Sailor Moon Harmony
by clsnham
Summary: While the events of Sailor Moon R arrive, on the other side of the world, another enemy searches for five elemental crystals powerful enough to control each one contained. Now four new Sailors join the battle for peace in a tiny town called Galesburg.
1. Storm Warning

Intro  
As this story moves along, I think there are certain things I should write here so readers will know before they start reading. If you just want to read the story, just go down to the title.  
  
Sailor Moon Harmony moves much faster than my other projects because I'm not the only one working on it, it started out that way (which is why the first five chapters are Sailor Aquila alone) but now there are four of us working on this. They are-  
  
Whirlwynd (that's me) - ideyaguardians@sailormoon.com, creator of Sailor Aquila, Delphi Blade, Orion, and the Eclipzes  
  
Tierra - JFK194@aol.com, creator of Sailor Monoceros, Gypsi Chapp, and the Eclipzes boss (who we don't have a name for yet ^^() )  
  
Spinmaster - spinmaster2000@hotmail.com, creator of Sailor Phoenix  
  
Jen - orionhime@hotmail.com, creator of Sailor Virgo - Jen is also running her own Sailor Moon fanfiction at http://www.sailorconstellations.com  
  
The new characters here are based on the English-language version. One reason for that is some of our writers are not familiar with the original or manga versions and thus would have difficulty writing about it. The second reason is for geographic realism. The Harmony Scouts are from America and were born there (save for Sailor Virgo), they have English names. When the original senshi (Sailor Moon, etc) arrive in the story, they will be using their original names, phrases, and attacks. Some people say mixing the dub and sub editions are a big mistake, if you don't like it, don't read it. I think it could have potential (especially for you humor writers out there ^^ *wink nudge*)  
  
So if this is a Sailor Moon story why aren't they fighting alongside Sailor Moon? It uses the elements of the Sailor Moon story. I didn't start with Sailor Aquila fighting alongside Sailor Moon because I like to be descriptive and I like to know the atmosphere of the settings, and I have never even set foot in Japan before, let alone do I know what the atmosphere is like. Until then, I'd either have to research or guess, and I don't want to do a whole lot of that for a fanfic. Maybe an original story of my own, but not a fic. A Shade of Twilight, my other Sailor Moon fic, is pretty much an experimental with the original show.   
  
I'm done rambling now. Thank you for listening and enjoy the story ^_^   
Check out the enhanced version, soundtrack, video clips, pics, and Wynd's Request Line @  
http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/smharmony  
  
  
  
  
  
SAILOR MOON HARMONY  
EPISODE 1- STORM WARNING  
  
An unusually bright day, this one was. The walls   
of corn along the highway radiated its emerald   
green around tiny golden pieces peeking out from   
their husks. The concrete sizzled quietly, a soft   
breeze carrying trace amounts of steam away from   
it. A pond nearby, still as glass, reflected the   
brilliant blue sky perfectly. Nearby, a red-winged   
blackbird trilled out a harsh oh-ka-leeee! as it   
fluttered out of a tree, afraid that the girl   
passing by on her rollerblades would come after   
it.  
  
But the girl's silver eyes were focused on the   
road. She had let her long, chocolate-colored hair   
loose into her own turbulent wind. These cheerful   
scenes were a fleeting picture in her memory as she   
whooshed by, with little effect on her current   
thoughts and feelings. Despite the carefree   
appearance, her eyes as bright as the reflection   
on the water, her skates gliding peacefully across   
the ground, her mind was stormy with the events that   
had taken place earlier.  
  
For one moment her hand slipped into the pocket of   
her dusty jeans and slid the folded paper deeper   
inside. She wished she could completely push it away,   
it would float off into the breeze and a storm would   
come and shred it with lightning.  
  
"Biology-" she muttered. "So what? One test. My   
parents won't care, what am I going to do with Biology   
later anyway?"  
  
But that wasn't the only thing that dragged this day   
down. She had left the school only to find her little   
brother surrounded by teachers. His hair, normally a   
shiny gold, was rusty brown, caked with dirt, like the   
rest of his clothes. His golden-brown eyes turned to   
her. "Skyler" he whimpered.  
  
"Oriole?!" Skyler had rushed over to him. "Are you OK?"  
  
"Mom's coming to get me-"  
  
It had been those bullies again. The only thing that   
made Skyler angery. Her brother did nothing to them,   
let they insisted on tormenting him every day after   
school. Usually, Skyler would be right there for him,   
but she had to stay a bit to talk to the teacher about   
her test.  
  
"I'm sure your brother can take care of himself" Ms.   
Mather had told her.  
  
Maybe if he was two feet taller. He was the shortest kid   
in school.  
  
She was jolted out of her thoughts as one of her wheels   
let out a tired squeak and stopped altogether, leaving the   
rest of her to tumble through the air and slam into the   
ground in a face-down sprawl. She growled as she got up,   
kicking the gravel off the road with her front wheel, and   
brushed some more off. She noticed streaks of upturned   
grass nearby. Some crazy driver must have taken a turn too   
fast.   
  
A robin in the grass nearby eyed her curiously. It hopped   
closer, pausing only to take a sideways glance at her. She   
watched it come ever closer.  
  
A larger shadow suddenly passed over them, startling the   
robin. It flapped away with a sharp chattering. Skyler looked   
up, but only caught a glimpse of the silhouette as it soared   
away. She watched for a few seconds more, then started on her   
way.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Her skates clacked as she stepped in the door."Mom! I'm home."  
  
"Skyler, take those skates off before you come in the house!"   
her mother scolded.  
  
She set them down back on the porch and took a look around. One   
of the cars was missing from the driveway."Where's Dad?"  
  
"He's down at the airport."  
  
Skyler's eyes widened slightly. He didn't even wait for her?   
"Can I go?"  
  
"Chores first. I have to go pick up Oriole. Make sure you know   
how to lock the gate this time. We don't want the cows getting   
in the corn again."  
  
Chores meant feeding the animals. She went to the large shed   
out back, where all the animal food was. First were the cats.   
Tuna, the gray one, was Oriole's favorite. He ran from just   
about everything except fish. Skyler watched him scamper towards   
the kitchen when she ran the can opener. Then there was   
Frostbite, the mean white one that hated going outside and   
wouldn't eat anything that was more than two days out of the   
store. The other cats seemed to like teasing Frostbite, but it   
was all in good fun. None of them had any claws. And the last   
one, her favorite, Galaxy. He was black with large white streaks,   
and bright green eyes. And he would always be there to cheer her   
up.   
  
Next was the golden retriever, Turbo. They called him that because   
he absolutely had to run wherever he went. He never stopped, not   
even in his sleep. And the food would be gone within three seconds   
of the dish being on the floor.  
  
Then there were her three budgerigars in her room- the blue one   
called Sora, the green one called Jayde, and the yellow one called   
Sunny. They didn't need a refill yet, so she left them alone.  
  
Finally, there was the chickens. She couldn't keep track of all   
their names. The cows were her father's job, along with many other   
things.  
  
She raced out, took no more than 20 seconds to strap on her   
rollerblades, then zoomed off towards the town.   
  
Minutes later, she passed the town's welcome sign. Galesburg. She   
didn't think she'd ever get tired of seeing it. It was small,   
simple, just like the town. She often wondered why it was called   
Galesburg.  
  
Everyone was out today. People crowded the narrow sidewalks, in the   
park, by the high school football field. There was a game today, and   
the stands were full. Skyler smiled contentedly. She knew everyone   
here, and they knew her. At least by name.  
  
Finally, she saw the hangars and turned off at the next driveway. Her   
father's blue truck was there, all right- and there he was, checking   
out his airplane. She tore off her skates and jumped into her sandals.   
"Dad! Are you going up today?"  
  
"Yep" he replied. "Hand me that towel, will ya?"  
  
"Can I come?"  
  
"No, better not today."  
  
"Aww-" Skyler's face fell. "Why not?"  
  
"Why don't you see Uncle Lance in the control tower?  
  
"Uncle Lance is here?!"  
  
"Yeah, go on. He's expecting you."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Lance saw Skyler wandering towards him, the people around her   
smiling at her. "Hey, what's going on? How's my favorite niece?"  
  
Skyler ran to him and gave him a hug. "Dad won't let me go in   
the plane" she whined.  
  
"He's going out--" Lance replied. "Taking a risk, isn't he?"  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
"There's a storm headed this way" he led her to one of the   
monitors. "See this red stuff? Big storm, big trouble for flying.   
It came up really fast and its supposed to hit us. You'd better   
go home before it does."  
  
Skyler looked out to where the electronic map had shown the   
disturbance. The sky seemed clear to her.  
  
Down below, she saw the town. Something was off, something she hadn't   
seen before. Dirt dug up, steel bars moved in. "What's that?"  
  
"They're putting up apartment buildings. I'm not sure why, but I'll   
check it out for you. Now go on home."  
  
A small scowl clouded her face, but she didn't want to get in Uncle   
Lance's way. "OK-"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The sky dulled as she neared home. Next came drizzles, then rain.   
She grumbled all the way down the road through the town.  
  
The streets, unlike what couldn't have been more than a half-hour   
earlier, were silent. A gray aura had crept through, bringing in a   
gloomy, yet uneasy feeling. Not a bird chirped, not a single leaf   
moved throughout the whole park. Even the rain seemed still and   
quiet, even though that was impossible. Skyler shivered a bit, and   
not from the cold.  
  
She arrived at home, drenched. Her brother was back to his normal   
self, chasing Tuna all over the place and laughing like a hyena.   
The other cats, and Turbo, were racing around as well.  
  
She reached her room. The parakeets were a little jumpy themselves.   
They were screeching, chirping, jumping all over the cage walls as   
if they were making some desperate attempt to escape. Skyler put   
her hand in the cage to calm the frenzied birds. "Sora? Jayde, calm   
down! What's with you?"  
  
Outside, the sky grew darker by the minute, the restless clouds   
twisting and sparking in an eerie pattern. The wind chimes by the   
window tossed wildly, and Skyler shut it.  
  
Tuna scampered into her room and screeched to a halt under her bed.   
Her brother followed shortly after.  
  
"Hey, Oriole--" Skyler started as he reached under her bed after   
the frightened cat.  
  
He stopped. "What?"  
  
"What did those kids say to you today?"  
  
"The usual. Calling me 'runt' and 'birdboy' and stuff like   
that. Why?"  
  
Skyler closed her eyes as she saw the bruises on his face again.   
"Are you mad at me?"  
  
He stared at her with inquisitive eyes. "No, why would I be?"  
  
"I just thought-- since I wasn't there-"  
  
His eyes softened a bit. Skyler had never seen this look from him   
before. It made him look somewhat older, more mature, totally   
pushing aside his under-average seven-year-old height. "You don't   
have to protect me. You're not going to be around me everywhere.   
I can take care of myself."  
  
Tuna bolted for the door, and once again the playful chase   
resumed. Skyler leaned back on the wall and stared up at the   
ceiling.   
  
"Sky! Dinner!" she heard her mother call.   
  
Spaghetti and meat sauce awaited them at the table. The sky   
outside was wilder than ever now, turning the trees around and   
flattening the corn to the ground. Rain turned to waterfalls,   
forming its own rivers as it poured relentlessly from the flashing   
clouds. It soon turned to a heavier tapping. Skyler's mother went   
to the window. "Hail-" she murmured. "Sky, are the chickens in the   
henhouse?"  
  
"Yes, mother."  
  
Suddenly Skyler's father burst in the door. Behind him, Skyler heard   
a faint noise. A distant wail, a simple sound, yet it carried with   
it a sense of danger that affected everyone who heard it. Skyler's   
mother switched on the TV.  
  
"This storm has moved in at incredible speeds, and it is quite   
unpredictable, so please take all the necessary precautions   
immediately. If you're just tuning in now, there is a tornado   
warning in effect for all of our viewing area until 9:45. I've just   
been handed this-- another tornado has been sighted outside of   
Franklin. People, this is a very dangerous situation-"  
  
"I saw one" Skyler's father panted. "We have to get downstairs. C'mon,   
Turbo!"  
  
Galaxy jumped in Skyler's arms. Oriole ran to the corner. "Tuna,   
let's go!"  
  
Tuna refused to come any closer. Oriole ran after him.  
  
The back door swung open a fierce wind struck the house. Tuna took   
this chance to escape. And Oriole was right behind. "TUNA!"  
  
Without a second thought for her own safety or any attention to her   
parents' calls, Skyler dashed out after him.  
  
The rain and hail tore at her face, keeping her eyes fluttering   
enough that she couldn't see her brother or the grass around her,   
despite the lightning. The wind was howling, now picking up   
everything in the yard that wasn't tied down, Skyler heard her   
brother's calls ahead of her, she could only focus on him now. She   
had no idea where she was or where she was going. She just ran.   
  
Something flew right past her head, and whatever it was, it was   
obviously larger than their truck. Skyler thought she caught a   
glimpse of that little plastic pool in their backyard go flying by.  
  
And then, she felt her own feet leave the ground.  
  
For a long time, she had wondered what it was like to fly on her   
own, without the aid of wings or propellers. Well, she knew now-  
  
Oriole's screams reached her ears from aways away. But her focus   
was broken.  
  
A splash of water caught her attention from below. Oriole had landed.  
  
The creek. She knew where she was now. There was a stream that ran   
though their yard way in the back. No one would ever call it a stream   
now, not this overpowering force.   
  
The water was surprisingly cold as it rushed up past her face. She   
didn't waste any time surfacing. Her focus was back. "Oriole!" she   
screamed, garbled by the large waves of water pushing her further down.   
  
She swam as hard and fast as she could towards where she had last seen   
Oriole, but she had little strength left. She had run and "flown"   
enough, and swimming wasn't her strength. Her head became heavy and   
light at the same time, her mind swimming in a frosty haze.   
  
Something snagged her shoulder, stopping her in place and snapping her   
awake a little. She could barely see it, a thin, scraggly hand with   
long golden nails clinging to her. It wasn't till another one   
clamped onto her other shoulder that she realized it wasn't a hand,   
but a claw. She would probably have freaked out if she had the   
strength left, but whatever it was, it was taking her out of the   
water. She saw the water fall away-  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
~Golden stars, silver moon~  
~The past I will never forget~  
~Though I fly far, I remember soon~  
~The world I must protect~  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Stars, a patch of infinite blue-  
  
These were scattered around, blocked out by silhouettes. Skyler's   
vision cleared as she sat up.  
  
There was an eerie silence. Sparkling clouds swirled around,   
occasionally revealing more stars, but not for long. She recognized   
the place- her backyard again. Right by the creek. But it looked   
as if nothing had been touched by a storm.  
  
Something fluttered behind her, and she whirled around on her knees.  
  
A golder claw clung to a large broken tree branch. That same one she   
had seen in the creek, now shining brightly despite the dim light.   
Her eyes moved upward, running over glossy golden feathers, past   
a beak the same color as the claws, and into a pair of sharp   
yellow eyes. These deep eyes, clouded with some mystical, enchanting   
spirit.  
  
It was an eagle. A golden eagle. Skyler saw pictures of golden   
eagles before, and this didn't look like them. It was a bit too   
small, and too light-colored. She approached it tentatively. It   
only looked at her, with no sudden movements. It allowed her to   
touch its head, and chattered a bit.  
  
"Wow" Skyler said with a smile. "You're a friendly one, aren't   
you?"  
  
It squealed, as if it were responding.   
  
She sighed and turned to a piece of the sky that had started   
to clear. She could see stars forming an outline-- the   
constellation Orion. That was the first one she learned about.  
  
"I wonder what-"  
  
She turned back to the eagle and received a shock. A light had   
formed across the eagle's face, an outline of a star!  
  
She glanced back at the stars. Then at the eagle again. "Your   
name's Orion, I think. Yeah. That's what I'm going to call you."  
  
The eagle seemed to smile.   
  
"I wonder where we are--"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Skyler's eyelids were as heavy as stone when she opened them   
again. She could make out faint streams of sunlight filtered   
through her wind chimes.   
  
Was it all a dream?  
  
But she couldn't get up. She became aware of a sharp,   
throbbing pain in her head, tenseness in all of her muscles   
as if they had been left in a refridgerator overnight. She   
was in different clothes than she last remembered. That   
mist, that damp, freezing mist she had felt in her mind was   
still there.  
  
She heard a quiet gasp from beside her. Her mother was   
sitting right beside her, with wide eyes. "Skyler's awake!"  
  
Her father rushed into view, along with the town physician.   
The guy looked pretty tired. "She should be all right now.   
Just give me a call if there's any trouble."  
  
A fluttering came from the corner. Everyone glanced in the   
direction.  
  
There, perched on a wind chime, was the golden eagle. The   
star on its face was gone, but she knew it was the same one.  
  
"That bird's back." Skyler's father walked to it. "Why won't   
it leave us alone?"  
  
"Wait!" Skyler protested.   
  
On the dresser below it, she saw a silver bracelet. It glimmer   
almost blindingly in the morning sun. But it didn't belong to   
her-  
  
Then she remembered. She totally lost track of time.  
  
"Where's Oriole?!" she cried out suddenly.  
  
Her parents glanced at each other. Her mother abruptly turned   
and left the room. Her father gave a heavy sigh and closed his   
eyes. "Sky, you're old enough to handle the truth, so I'll be   
straight with you--"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Skyler's tearful eyes ran down the stream. It was hard to   
believe that this was that rushing choas it had been the night   
before. The one that had taken her brother from her.  
  
They said they hadn't found him. But Skyler knew, way down on   
the inside, that she would never see him again. She slid the   
silver bracelet off and placed it on the bank of the creek.   
  
"I couldn't be there for you-- but I know you're not angry.   
You said this yourself." She glanced down at the bracelet. "And   
as long as I have this ring from the storm, you will never be   
alone again--"  
  
She picked it up and walked back to the house. As she did, a pair   
of golden eagle eyes watched her-  
  



	2. Eagle's Eye

SAILOR MOON H  
EPISODE 2-EAGLE'S EYE  
  
"Skyler-"  
  
She glanced around the gym. It was empty, cold, an uninviting slime green.   
The thick, glassy walls only emphasized that effect, the vacant wooden   
floor just barely reflecting the hanging lights above it. These creepy   
green hanging lights, swinging slightly as if they were watching her with   
mistrust. She took a tentative step forward, but froze when the whispered   
voice escalated to an echoing boom.  
  
"SOARA!"  
  
Skyler's heart fluttered, and she twitched uneasily. "Sora? That's my   
parakeet's name."  
  
Two figures were approaching from her right. They looked like they were   
in a hurry, and also pretty angry. Skyler tried to move.  
  
And there was that eagle, Orion. Right in her face and staring with golden   
eyes.  
  
She blinked again.  
  
The scene behind the eagle turned bright, almost blinding. She realized   
she was staring at the ceiling of her room. She yelped and tumbled off   
the bed.  
  
"Sky? You up?"  
  
Her father peered into the room. "You feel like going to school today?"  
  
Unlike the last week, she felt more like her old self- cheery in the   
morning. Although she knew she would never be totally back to normal.   
She nodded her head.  
  
20 minutes later, she clapped the straps down on her rollerblades and   
loaded her books in her bag. She sat down on the front porch to arrange   
them.  
  
Tuna crossed the path, turning a wary eye toward her. He stopped to give   
her a stare with half-closed eyes.  
  
Suddenly, there was a flutter of feathers-  
  
And there was Orion, scanning the view with golden eyes.  
  
Orion dropped down in front of Tuna. The cat jumped, and Skyler laughed,   
expecting to see him tear away across the yard.  
  
But they just gazed at each other, Orion with a curious chirp. Tuna meowed   
affectionately, and rubbed his head against the eagle's wing.  
  
"That's--- really weird--" Skyler said to herself, before zooming off down   
the road.  
  
She arrived at her school and slipped into her sandals. Many of the others   
were watching her, silently, sympathetically. One of them walked over to   
her. "Hey, I heard about you're brother" he said softly. "Sorry-"  
  
She offered him a weak smile. "It's not great, but there's nothing I can   
do. I just have to live with it."  
  
Skyler then realized she hadn't seen this guy before. He was only a bit   
taller than her, with short hair with unusually long, spiked bangs, the   
color of a crow's feathers. He wore a Chicago White Sox baseball jersey   
with a neon green T-shirt underneath, and pair of pipe jean-shorts, and   
wildly-patterned blue and black sneakers. But what struck her most was   
his eyes. It was like staring into the depths of the deepest oceans, sinking   
down under crashing waves to the serenity of the sea's floor, only to be   
brought back up again by beams of sunlight slicing through the water and   
lighting a glittering path to the sky.  
  
"I haven't met you before."  
  
The boy chuckled. "I don't think so, this is my first day. I'm Devin Gyrode.   
Most people call me Blue, though. 'Cause of my eyes."  
  
"Yeah, I see. I'm Skyler Avis. Most people call me Sky, 'cause I'm going   
to be a pilot."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Well-" Skyler turned her eyes to the ground. "When I learn how."  
  
"You're in sixth grade, I was told. Tough one, but not much to grade eight.   
I move on to the high school next year."  
  
"They're letting everyone in. That basically means 'go to class' " Skyler   
smiled.  
  
Blue scanned the wall. "Don't you have bells here? You know, to change   
classes?"  
  
"Galesburg Junior High is mixed with the elementary, and they don't change   
classes. There aren't that many people. Good luck today!"  
  
Skyler sat down next to her friend Karen. Karen smiled when she saw her.   
"Feeling better?" she asked.   
  
Skyler nodded. "I can't just run away-"  
  
"Where'd you get that bracelet?"  
  
Karen indicated the silver bracelet on Skyler's right wrist. She hadn't taken   
it off since the day after the storm, not even at night. It bothered her   
sometimes, but she remembered her promise-   
  
You will never be alone again-  
  
"You know, I'm not sure where this came from. I found it on my dresser. Maybe   
someone left it there as a present."  
  
A tall man walked in. Skyler watched him- this was not their teacher. There   
was something peculiar about his walking style as well, it was almost- frigid.   
This style continued as he sat down uncomfortably in his chair.  
  
Skyler remembered the face- it was Mr. Charen, the local substitute. Of course,   
it was hard to forget him- that brilliant red hair that burned right into   
people's minds, always in a different, strange style. His smooth, calm voice,   
quick with words and ready to take on anything a back-seat trouble maker could   
throw at him. "Ms. Mather must be sick" she concluded.  
  
He moved some papers around on the desk. The students waited patiently for   
him to start.  
  
But he only said, rather flatly, "No homework. Free day."  
  
The class was stunned. Charen wasn't like this at all. He was a fun-loving   
guy, but still made sure people had something to do. He'd always have something   
new for the class to learn, something interesting to keep their attention.   
But today, he just sat there, staring blankly at the walls.  
  
However, the other kids, including Skyler, weren't going to question his   
decision. After all, a free day was a free day. They went around as normal, most   
of the class in their own little groups, talking.  
  
Near the end of the day, Skyler remembered she had to get the assignments she   
missed during the week. She approached the desk. "Excuse me, Mr. Charen? When's   
Ms. Mather coming back?"  
  
He looked right at her-- or, into her would be more accurate. His eyes, as she   
remembered, were normally a deep, shadowy brown, like a mud road in a rainstorm.   
Now they had brightened in color a bit, into a somewhat more cheerful red, yet   
they were empty, lifeless, steel-like- it gave Skyler chills. "I'm not sure" he   
replied bluntly, with no follow-up.  
  
Everyone was leaving now, so she decided she had better go as well. She walked   
out.  
  
A shadow passed over her-  
  
She glanced up just in time to see a small figure swoop down and perch on the   
handrail next to her.  
  
And there was Orion, watching the children with golden eyes.  
  
A crowd of them immediately appeared around them, gasps of surprise in the   
air. "That's an eagle!"  
  
Orion seemed to be liking the attention. He closed his eyes happily and chattered.  
  
She saw Mr. Charen watching fron the window, but she didn't think too   
much of it at the time. She was more focused on the eagle. She reached into   
her backpack and pulled out an apple. Orion gladly accepted the gift, to the   
surprise of the others.  
  
"Eagles eat meat" a boy proclaimed. "That's a fruit!"  
  
Skyler left the crowd and started on her way home. As she reached her driveway,   
a shadow became visible.  
  
There was Orion, looking down on her with golden eyes.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mr. Charen looked in both directions and headed down the stairs, to the school   
basement, where many a tornado drill had been held. The dust down there could   
have easily made a new sandbox. Unmarked cardboard boxes blocked out the walls,   
leaving a taint of curiosity in any visitor as to what was in them.  
  
But it wasn't Charen's focus. He headed way to the back, to a darkened corner   
that looked like a piece of the room itself cut off. It was far out of place,   
too gloomy even for a basement. "Problems may occur-"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Skyler's feet swung lazily in the air, keeping in time with the crystal tones   
of her wind chimes dancing in the breeze. She tapped her pencil impatiently   
on the paper.   
  
"I could've had a free night if I didn't have catch-up work" she muttered.  
  
One of the wind chimes gave a loud protest in response to a sudden movement.   
She looked up sharply.   
  
Their was Orion, trailing each one of the noisy crystals with golden eyes.  
  
Skyler walked slowly towards the window. The eagle didn't budge, it only looked   
at her with a steady gaze. He hopped down to the floor. Skyler eyed him in   
question, then turned back to her homework.   
  
"Skyler-"  
  
That sounded like it had come from-- the floor.  
  
Skyler's eyes met the eagle's.  
  
Then, it called again. "Skyler!"  
  
She realized her father was calling from the front door. "Coming!" she called   
back.  
  
As she left the room, she took one last glimpse at Orion. "That was pretty   
funny, I thought for a second you were talking to me. Hehe ^_^"  
  
Orion stared after her, with seemingly wise eyes-  
  
But she knew better.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The next day was a hot one. Even Skyler's hair was too tired and steamed to   
fly, it stuck lifelessly to her, unresponsive to the burning wind around it.  
  
Mr. Charen was there again. He had that same silent tone as yesterday- even   
the same clothers. "Take out your assignments from yesterday" he instructed.  
  
The kids exchanged glances. "But we didn't have an assignment" Karen reminded   
him.  
  
Charen finally looked up. Skyler raised her head in surprise. His eyes, those   
calm, cool, all-knowing eyes that he used to have, were glowing like fireflies!   
The glow was easily visible, despite the bright sunlight through the window.   
  
"That's OK, I didn't expect you to understand" he hissed in an altered,   
distorted voice.  
  
He stood up- and slashed the desk in half with one hand!  
  
Screams drowned out the normal noises of the morning as the kids scrambled out   
the door, crowding the hall like a roaring river. Skyler, however, avoided the   
crowd. She managed to get a view of Mr. Charen.  
  
And there was Orion, hovering in front of him with gleaming golden eyes.  
  
And then he headed straight for Charen.  
  
One swift strike of his hand, and the eagle was sprawled out on the ground.   
It twitched once and lay still.  
  
Before Skyler realized her own actions, she dashed off towards the guy, through   
a mess of flying papers and desk supplies. It all seemed familiar-  
  
The tornado.  
  
This time, she wasn't letting anyone down.   
  
She raced by and scooped Orion up, then carried him to safety, under a window   
outside the classroom. Orion wiggled out of Skyler's arms and they both looked   
in.  
  
Charen just stood there, the metallic emptyness in place once again. Skyler   
shuddered.   
  
Then, from the classroom door came a little girl. She had light, cyan-colored   
hair, tied up into three ponytails that reached no lower than the bottom of   
her face. Her eyes, a large perwinkle type, sparkled with some kind of unknown   
enthusiasm. She flipped over to Charen. Judging from her fuchsia skintight   
outfit and moves, Skyler assumed she was acrobat or gymnast of some sort.   
  
What happened next shocked Skyler into a frozen state- the girl reached into   
Charen's mouth, and way down into his throat, then pulled something out.   
A red crystal.  
  
"I KNOW from Biology that that isn't right-" she whispered.  
  
Charen fell, as if the crystal was the thing that had been keeping him up.  
  
"Just a Harmony" the girl sighed with disappointment. Her voice was airy,   
and with an unusual scent of wisdom in it. "Oh well. Harmony Disrupt" she   
commanded, tossing the crystal up.  
  
It quivered, and then flashed with a fury of flames that seemd like it could   
never be calmed. The flames flickered, folded, and took the shape of a huge   
bird.   
  
And Orion was watching, with worried golden eyes.  
  
"Skyler-"  
  
That voice. The one that she thought was her father-  
  
She whirled at Orion, who was looking at her. "0 0() You just talked to me,   
didn't you?"  
  
"That's right. Listen carefully. That bracelet you treasure has more to it   
than it seems. Look and you'll see power beyond your dreams. This is a key.   
You see, you are one of the defenders of the universe, the ones known as   
Sailor Scouts. You are Sailor Aquila, Soldier of the Wing. And I'm here   
to help you."  
  
"Sailor Scout?" Skyler's eyes went beyond wide. "I'M A SAILOR SCOUT?!"  
  
Orion nodded. "You need to help that man. He was under control of that girl,   
and without the Harmony restored, he will sleep for the rest of his days.   
You need to defeat and calm the angered crystal."  
  
"So what do I do?"  
  
"Say 'Eagle Star Power' first, and turn into Sailor Aquila."   
  
Skyler stared at the ring. It glittered more than ever now, and she saw the   
reflection of eagle eyes-  
  
"EAGLE STAR POWER!"  
  
Her hand thrust involuntarily into the air. She felt a strange tingling   
sensation where the bracelet touched her skin. It spread quickly though her   
arm and then through the rest of her, and she was suddenly filled with   
energy. A strong, irrepressable energy, that she could see as she looked   
up at the bracelet, at the hand that was glowing with a bright rushing   
light. This energy made her feel like she was leaving the ground, soaring   
high up into an infinite blue sky- flying feathers, flashing light.  
  
And it stopped. She stood with her hands flat out to the side, feet together,   
the bracelet in ringed over one wrist- at five times its normal size.  
  
The first thing she saw was her reflection in the window. This did not look   
like her at all. A golden v-shaped tiara had appeared on her forehead, a   
glistening silver star in the middle. There was a silver choker with a   
white double-wing symbol on it, matching her new silver sailor collar.   
A pointed blue bow with a gold star brought the top together. The bow on   
the back of the silver skirt was also blue, with long, split-end tails. Even   
her sandals had changed, silver with crossed straps halfway up her legs,   
and wings on the backs. They looked real, glossy white feathers, muscles in   
perfect position. She reached down to touch one, only to find she was wearing   
long white gloves with a silver ring at the end.  
  
"Wow!" Skyler exclaimed. "This is awesome! I'm really-"  
  
"The Charen bird is attacking people" Orion informed her. "Aquila, go help   
them. Oh-" he added with a wink. "Don't forget a speech! It's tradition!"  
  
Fire blasted through the air like a lased. The Charen bird rampaged across   
the schoolyard with a seemingly unstoppable rage.   
  
"Hey you!"  
  
The fire bird looked at the figure on the roof.  
  
"Don't you know it's against the law to smoke on school grounds? I don't   
appreciate you trapping these people in a barbecue. In the name of freedom,   
I am Sailor Aquila, here to bring harmony back to the world!"  
  
She smiled- That wasn't bad!  
  
The Charen bird shot fire in her direction. She leaped off the roof and landed   
nimbly on the ground. The fire came her way again, and she dodged it   
effortlessly. But she knew this wasn't what she was supposed to do. "Wait a   
minute-- what am I supposed to do?"  
  
She heard Orion's voice in her head. "You have powers, you know. Try your   
Hurricane Ring."  
  
Aquila's eyes lit up. "Yeah!"  
  
She gripped the overgrown bracelet tightly. It shined, then exploded in a blast   
of blue light. She tossed it in the air, and it split into a cloud of blue   
feathers, and melded into her hand.  
  
"RAZOR FEATHER FLURRY!" she shouted.  
  
She aimed her hand at the Charen bird, and a storm of feather accompanied   
by an intense wind streamed at it. It shrieked as the feathers tore the flame   
to shreds, then it fell to the ground with no further movement.  
  
"Just like that, huh?" she said as Orion flew up.  
  
"Yep, just like that."   
  
The star outline appeared on his head, and shot a beam into the bird. It   
shrunk quietly back into a crystal. Orion picked it up in his beak. "Give   
this back to the man."  
  
"Of course-"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Skyler looked at her new friend as he nestled up in the bed she had made him,   
by the window sill. "It is all right if I call you Orion, isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah" he replied sleepily. "You probably couldn't pronounce my real name,   
anyway. Rest up. You never know when more problems might arise. But at least   
I found someone."  
  
Skyler pondered these words, and the events of the day. Who was that girl? What   
would happen next time? Was Sailor Aquila going to be the greatest thrill of   
her life, or her worst nightmare? But she had to accept it.  
  
And as she turned out the light-  
  
There was Orion, his golden eyes closed tight for the night.  
  
"Sailor Aquila is on the scene-"  
  
  
  



	3. A Time For Reflection

SAILOR MOON H  
EPISODE 3-A TIME FOR REFLECTION  
  
Out of the thousands of chirping crickets in a seemingly endless field of  
darkness, Skyler's gasp of surprise was barely heard.  
  
She had been watching the night sky from her backyard. The sky was clear, and   
littered with millions of stars. Skyler had seen shooting stars all the time, but she   
had never seen something as stunning as this.  
  
A huge comet-like object was still streaking across the sky, nearly as bright as the   
moon and leaving a diamond trail of sparks that fell like snow. Each piece shimmered   
with a perfect shine, then falling into darkness as if they were settling to sleep for the   
night. This ideal night- and now this awesome view of outer space, right from her   
backyard.  
  
This opportunity was too rare to be missed. Skyler decided to head down to a place  
she could see this thing clearly before it disappeared. She didn't bother to ask her  
parents, too much time would be wasted and the comet might go away. Besides, it  
wasn't that far to where she wanted to go. She clapped on her rollerblades and raced  
off to inner Galesburg.  
  
To her relief, the comet was still there by the time she reached the airport. She hopped   
right into her sandals and dashed off into the corn, which was a few feet above her head  
at this time of year. But that was all right, she knew exactly where she was going.  
  
A tower stood between the edges of the cornfield and the forest. There was a light   
on up there- someone was watching the sky. It was late, but Skyler was not   
surprised. Galesburg was one of the ideal places to see stars. They were quite   
far away from any major cities with their light pollution, and not many people   
in the town worked at night.   
  
She climbed the steps and entered the small building. This was the observatory-   
tiny, but it was better than nothing. There was a pretty powerful telescope in   
there, anyway. And a few chairs.  
  
Tonight, someone was already looking through the telescope. A tall, skinny young man,   
with shocking hazel eyes and the thing that gave him away- his unusually shiny silver   
hair. His hands moved expertly around the telescoped controls, despite the sudden   
movement, his loose clothes didn't make a sound.   
  
"Hey Adrian" Skyler greeted.  
  
He glanced up at her, and a slight smile showed. "Skyler, do your parents know you're  
out here?"  
  
Skyler's face flushed. "N-no- hey wait a minute! Since when am I your responsibility?"  
  
He chuckled. "Well, if it's alright for 19-year-old rocket scientists to be out at   
this time, I guess it's OK for a future Navy SEAL to be too."  
  
Skyler returned his laugh with a giggle. "I don't wanna be a SEAL, just a pilot.   
The Blue  
Angels."  
  
"OK, whatever. Just don't beat me up when you come back."  
  
"Whatcha doing?"  
  
"Still looking for something new-" he backed up from the scope for a minute   
and walked to the other side of the room. "That's nearly impossible with this   
equipment. I gotta get out of this town-"  
  
"You wanna see something new?"   
  
Skyler led him outside. The comet was still there, streaking around near the  
horizon. Adrian's eyes lit up, and he rushed back to the telescope. He quickly   
adjusted the lenses and direction, with Skyler watching from the door. Every   
time she saw him here, he always worked with such determination and skill, and   
she knew he had always wanted to be an astronomer. But he never had the money   
to get the right schooling. He had been saving for a while, though it was early   
on, he wanted to get going towards his dream.  
  
"C'mere, I got it" he said, motioning for Skyler.  
  
She peered into the lens. The light was much more intense through this thing,   
and she backed up. "Know what, I'm just gonna look at the stars over here-"  
  
As she sat down in one of the chairs, she noticed some of the stars sticking out in   
a triangle-like formation. It was lower on the horizon, and for some reason Skyler  
couldn't take her eyes away.  
  
"Hey Adrian- have you seen these stars before?"  
  
He came over and put his eye by her shoulder to see where she was pointing. "Yeah.  
That's Aquila, the Eagle. Comes out in the summertime. Why, you like eagles?"  
  
Skyler froze. Aquila was a constellation?! Did that mean that she was an alien?   
All these questions ran through her mind while Adrian watched with his distant   
smile. She realized he was staring at her.  
  
"Um, yeah actually" she replied, returning the smile.  
  
"Well, I'm not you dad, but I think you should go on home, anyway. Your parents  
might worry about you."  
  
Skyler decided to take up his advice this time. She had other things on her mind now-  
she had heard of the Sailor Scouts, Sailor Moon and Sailor V, but she didn't give a   
thought to their names. She didn't know of a constellation named V, anyway- it was  
all questions for Orion.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Orion just happened to be gazing at the sky when she arrived home. He sat on a low-hanging  
wind-chime, eyeing the sky sideways like her parakeets always did. The parakeets watched  
him with interest, clinging to the side of the cage with their little pink claws. He saw   
them out the other eye, but didn't say anything.  
  
"Orion-" Skyler's tone was slightly annoyed.  
  
He flicked his head towards her.   
  
"Those can break really easily, you know."  
  
With one last glimpse at the stars, he fluttered to the floor and marched over to her.   
He didn't say anything, which made Skyler somewhat uneasy, but eagles weren't supposed to   
talk in the first place. It was still a little weird to see that. "So, see anything?"  
  
The "golden" eagle moved his head from side to side. Skyler took that as a no.   
  
"Orion--" she said again, this time hesitating. "Are the Sailor Scouts- are they from outer   
space?"  
  
Orion looked at her sharply. His normal expression was so-- scary. Skyler felt like she   
might have asked a bad question.  
  
But he laughed, giving some softness to his frozen stare. "I'll have to check up on that-"  
  
"Well, I got school tomorrow. Good night."  
  
Orion watched her until she turned the lights out, then took a perch on the windowsill   
again. On the outside, his face remained in its stern, unmoving glare, but anyone who   
looked in his eyes could see a reflection of concern. A reflection of a giant silver comet,   
disappearing over the horizon.   
  
'I don't want to start anything yet" he decided. "It's too early to suspect- but I don't   
have a good feeling about this--"  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
"I'm serious!" Karen's friend Carly yelled. "I swear, I know what I saw!"  
  
"Chill out ^_^()" Karen told her. "It's just a little thing-"  
  
"Yeah, but I'd think we'd know that person-" Skyler mumbled. She suddenly perked up.   
"Maybe it's like a long lost sister or something!"  
  
"Or an evil twin" Karen added, an eerie shadow across her eyes.  
  
Carly sighed. "Look guys, I saw it down by the town square- someone who looked EXACTLY   
like me. Everything. My hair, my eyes, my clothes- it's sooo weird. And I'm going to find   
out who it was."  
  
"Hey, I saw one too!" another girl, Sara, just happened to pass by their table.   
  
Carly glanced up threateningly, her purple eyes flashing under her thin blond bangs. "Are   
you making fun of me?"  
  
Sara stopped and sat down at the table. "No way. But no one believes me either."  
  
"Maybe someone's playing tricks" Karen suggested, half lost in thought.  
  
Skyler then noticed Orion watching from the window. This seemed to be a signal. "Umm,   
I'll be right back guys-"  
  
Orion greeted her at the front door. Fortunately there didn't seem to be anyone around.   
  
"What? This is going to be really hard if you keep calling me in the wrong times. If   
someone sees me talking to you-"  
  
"Relax" Orion reassured. "There's no one around here, and this is important. I overheard   
the conversation about the 'twins'. There's something more to it- many other people have   
been talking about this."  
  
"So what? It's not doing anything" Skyler sighed. "It's like the ghost stories about the   
old buildings. They'll come and go-"  
  
Orion turned a half-closed eye to her. "Ever think those stories might have come from   
something as well?"  
  
"I'll keep an eye out" Skyler told him, but she really didn't plan on it. She didn't think   
anything was wrong.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Her curious silver eyes scanned the midnight sky, but still no signs of that comet she   
had seen the night before. She decided to keep her eyes on the road. After all, if it had   
been moving as slow as it had been the night before, there was no rush. And she knew Adrian   
was going to be there again.  
  
But strangely enough, the lights were out at the observatory. Skyler stopped, and climbed   
the stairs. No one was there, except a owl sitting on a rafter. She opened her mouth, but   
realized what she was doing and quickly shut it. 'What am I doing? Owls can't talk. Orion's   
messing up my mind already-'  
  
With that, she turned and headed back down the long, dark road towards home.  
  
As she left, the owl's eyes glimmered with an odd blue light-  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
'What's going on here?' Skyler wondered as she entered the classroom.   
  
Rows of empty desks awaited her in the room. The weather was one of the warmest days of   
the year, but as soon as she had come into the schoolyard a coldness had rushed up on her,   
and she thought about turning back. But she didn't.  
  
'Is it Saturday?' she thought, blushing a bit.  
  
No, it couldn't have been, she reasoned. Her father worked at home on the weekends, and   
she remembered him taking off this morning. She decided not to waste any more time, after   
all, if no one was going to show up, she might as well leave.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
She slid into her sandals as she arrived on her front porch. "Mom? Mom! Is today a-?"  
  
She screeched to a halt as she arrived in the kitchen, and her eyes grew wide at what she   
saw. "MOM?!"  
  
Her mother seemed the same, except for two things. She was staring obsessively at a mirror,   
not moving, not even breathing. And second, her skin had turned a shiny silver.   
  
That wasn't all, as soon as she heard Skyler's voice, she turned and and tossed a kitchen   
knife at her.  
  
Skyler screamed and ducked out of the way, then raced out of the house. Orion landed on her   
shoulder, startling another scream out of her. "You have to leave town!" he instructed.  
  
"Huh? Why?"  
  
"Remember that silver comet? My premonitions were right! That's what happened to your   
mother, to the whole town! Someone did this- transform and fall back until we can figure   
out what we're going to do."  
  
"But I can't just leave everyone-"  
  
"You have to. They'll be fine."  
  
"Fine-" Skyler agreed reluctantly. "Eagle Star Power!"  
  
Once again came that incredible rush of energy, and there stood Sailor Aquila in full   
uniform.   
  
Along with the energy came a different sense- something was happening, not too far away-  
  
"Orion, the enemy is at the observatory" she concluded, racing off.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The girl pushed her long, aqua-colored hair back behind her shoulders, her light turquiose   
eyes running along the horizon. "Where are they-" she sighed.  
  
She paced impatiently, her heavy boots pounding the floor. She adjusted the collar of her   
sailor outfit and sat down. "They're on this planet, at least- but where?"  
  
"Hey you!" someone called.   
  
The girl turned to see a silhouette standing in the corner.  
  
"I don't know what's going on here, but this is MY town, and you're not taking control of   
it's people. In the name of freedom, I am Sailor Aquila, here to bring harmony back to   
the world!"  
  
Aquila flipped on a lightswitch.  
  
"Huh? 0 0() Orion, is she a Sailor Scout" she asked at the sight of the girl.  
  
"Augh, another Sailor" the girl sighed. "And a pushy one at that. Kalaide, make sure she   
falls to the mirror comet as well."  
  
A figure leaped down from the ceiling, a familiar one-  
  
Aquila stepped back a few paces. "Adrian?!"  
  
He did look like Adrian, with a few added features- completely silver skin, a mirror   
shield melded to one arm and a cannon on the other.   
  
The girl disappeared without a word. Orion flew up to help the confused Aquila. "It's a   
Harmony" he informed her. "Try to calm it down."  
  
"Oh, right. RAZOR FEATHER FLURRY!"  
  
A smile appeared on Kalaide's face, and he raised the mirror shield. The feather bounced   
off like pinballs.  
  
Aquila shrieked. "Oh great, now what?! Orionnnnnnnn!!!!!"  
  
"It's just a shield!" he yelled. "Get around it!"  
  
"Oh-ohkay-"  
  
She jumped off to the side, then tried to fake him out by constantly changing direction.   
But it was like his shield was magnetized to her. Everywhere she went she was met by her   
own reflection.  
  
'Don't panic' she told herself. 'There's gotta be another way-'  
  
Then she felt a strange sensation near her feet. She couldn't tell what part it was   
coming from- until she discovered the wings on her shoes had unfolded.   
  
"Umm, Orion? Are these wings- part of me?" she asked with a nervous smile.  
  
"You can feel them, can't you?"  
  
She quickly reached down to them and brushed the top with her gloves. The sensation   
startled her- she could actually feel through the wing! She felt the glove brush across   
a few more times. This was real-  
  
She ducked just out of the way of a laser beam, and turned. The wings flexed   
automatically, and she soared over Kalaide as if she had done it a hundred times before.   
Then, she tried again. "RAZOR FEATHER FLURRY!"  
  
Kalaide screeched as the feathers caught him right upside the head and knocked him to   
the floor. Orion quickly swooped down and activated his star symbol. With a flash, a   
water Harmony appeared on the floor.  
  
"The owner is over here" Orion told her, picking up the crystal and leading her to a   
corner.  
  
There was Adrian.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"I can't believe this, Adrian!" Skyler exclaimed. "You're going to school!"  
  
"Yep!" he said with a huge smile. "That piece of silver I found when I woke up was   
worth enough, so I guess I won't see you out here anymore. I'll write to you sometime,   
'K? But I'd better go home for now. Bye, Sky!"  
  
Skyler waved to him, then turned her eyes to the sky. Even though the whole town had   
been puzzled about a few lost hours, it was all worth it to see one person's dream come   
true, even though he didn't know who helped him.  
  
"Sailor Aquila has saved the night- but what's next?"  
  
THE END 


	4. Fair Game

Sailor Moon Harmony  
Episode 4-Fair Game  
  
"Look Orion, I don't see why I have to do this" Skyler  
whined. "Shouldn't we be looking for enemies or something?"  
  
Orion landed on her shoulder, one claw digging in a little   
bit, as if to be a warning. The other one had a baseball.  
"What's the point of facing an enemy if you don't have a   
chance of winning?"  
  
"But- I use feathers, not baseballs!"  
  
Skyler looked to the cardboard box set up in the backfield.   
Orion had dragged it out this afternoon, insisting she work on  
her attacks. Something about attacking a cardboard box-  
  
"We're working on your accuracy" Orion told her. "It doesn't  
matter what you use right now-"  
  
"Hey Skyler!"  
  
Skyler turned to see Karen standing in the road. She was  
holding a newspaper in one hand, a pair of rollerblades in  
the other. Her eyes sparkled with excitement. "Are you   
practicing for the carnival?"  
  
Skyler handed the baseball she was holding to Orion and ran to   
Karen, leaving him to plummet to the ground with the balls. He  
squawked as he got up, ruffling his feathers at Skyler.  
  
"That bird doesn't look to happy with you" Karen commented.  
  
"Aw, he's probably mad at me because I won't play baseball with  
him-" Skyler gave Orion a look- (better get out of here before   
she gets a closer look at you-)  
  
Orion got the message. He took off towards the cornfields.   
Skyler watched him leave, then turned to Karen again. "What  
carnival?"  
  
"There's this huge traveling carnival on the way here! It   
was in the newspaper this morning. They're going to set it  
up on the old McGillar farm."  
  
The McGillar farm was an old abandoned property on the far   
edges of Galesburg. Of course, there were always those ghost   
stories about the place, but the place was far too quiet. There  
weren't even loose pieces in the wind clanking around. It kinda   
took the spooky element out of the place. At least to Skyler.   
Some people thought that the silence was even worse than hearing  
something.  
  
"When's it start?"  
  
"Well, actually they're supposed to set up today, and everything's  
going to be open tomorrow! Are you going?"  
  
"Yeah!" she squealed excitedly. "When does something like this  
come around Galesburg?"  
  
"You wanna go down there now!"  
  
Skyler was about to reply, but she saw Orion perched on her   
roof out of the corner of her eye. She was a little annoyed,   
but she knew her responsibilities as a Sailor Scout were more  
important. "Umm, no. I got homework to do-"  
  
Karen's eyes were questioning, but she took Skyler's word. "OK,  
see ya later-"  
  
As she left, Orion came sailing over and landed by the road.   
"A carnival- Skyler, this doesn't seem right. Don't you think  
Aledo would be more likely to be the place for this, where   
they could get more visitors?"  
  
Aledo was the closest city, quite a bit bigger than Galesburg.  
Skyler could tell Orion had been studying the local geography.  
"Yeah, but see- things like this don't come around that often  
here. They'll get more of the percentage of the people-   
basically that means EVERYONE'S going to be there, not like  
a city where people see this kinda thing all the time or   
something better."  
  
"Yes, you're going to be there too" Orion replied with a   
mischievous glint in his eye.  
  
"Well, I'm glad you agree" Skyler beamed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The next school day came and went, and Skyler raced home  
as fast as her wheels would carry her. She didn't even trip  
once, she was too focused. She barely had the patience to get  
her skates off and put some shoes on when she arrived home.  
  
"MOM! We ready?!" she hollered. "Letsgoletsgoletsgo!"  
  
"Skyler-" her mother turned a smile to her from the kitchen.  
"You can go on ahead by yourself. It's your chore money."  
  
"All right!"  
  
In less than a minute, her house was out of sight. She  
sailed through the town, past happy groups heading in the  
same direction she was. She didn't have to worry too much   
about cars in the streets because most people could easily  
just walk to the McGillar place.   
  
She arrived at the front gate, where two ticket booths had  
been set up. Much to her surprise, she saw Devin leaning on  
the fence, as if he were waiting for something. She hopped out  
of her blades and into the sandals. "Hey!"  
  
Devin's stunning blue eyes turned to her direction. They   
always gave her such a shock. No matter what light they were  
in, they always seemed so bright. Despite this, Skyler could  
never call him by his nickname, Blue. "I knew you'd be here!"   
he laughed.  
  
"You waiting for someone?"  
  
"Nah, just waiting for the school crowd to go through- hey,  
some people in my class were telling me this place is haunted  
or something."  
  
Skyler shrugged. "They say that about almost every old   
abandoned property here ^_^() Well, I'm going in."  
  
"Wait for me!"  
  
Through the gates, they could no longer see what was once the  
McGillar property. Bright colors streamed everywhere around   
them, on the metal beams of traveling rides, around the stands  
where several different scents drifted out to the grounds- hot  
dogs, burgers, corn, even funnel cakes. The ground seemed it   
had been sweeped lightly, and sprinkled with shreds of plastic-  
like hay. And there was the music, totally shaking the normal  
stillness out of the old barn and keeping everything in it's   
rhythm. The whole place seemed awfully large for what used to  
be the property, but the two didn't really take notice.   
  
"Well, I AM kinda hungry-" Devin made off for one of the food   
stands.  
  
He came back with arms full- two burgers, a few hotdogs, two  
ears of roasted corn, and a styrofoam cup of cola. "How hungry  
are you?!" Skyler exclaimed.  
  
He took the burger he had in his mouth out. "I'm a growing boy"  
he grinned. "Here, I got you something-"  
  
He handed her one of the corn ears.   
  
"Um, thanx ^_^()" she replied.   
  
"Want a burger, too?"  
  
"No, I don't like meat that much-"  
  
In the time it took Skyler to finish her corn, the food Devin   
carried was gone. Skyler didn't say anything, though.  
  
"Hi you guys!"  
  
Karen caught up with them, the questioning look on her face  
again. Then a sly smile replaced it. "So Skyler, who's your  
boyfriend?"  
  
Skyler's cheeks reddened a bit, but she managed to keep a   
calm tone. "This is my FRIEND, Devin."  
  
"Call me Blue" he told her, cheerfully extending a hand.  
  
Karen shook it hesitantly. "Wow- your eyes--"  
  
"That's why they call me Blue."  
  
"Well peoples, what are we waiting for? Let's get in some  
rides!"  
  
As they walked to the closest one, a small girl brushed past  
Skyler. "Excuse me-" she whispered.  
  
Something about the voice made Skyler stop. She turned, but   
couldn't find who it was.   
  
Then she caught sight of Orion. He was standing on the ground  
by a house of mirrors. Skyler glanced back at her two friends.  
"Hold on, I forgot something-"  
  
Orion was just as surprised to see her coming up to him as she  
was to see him in the first place. "What's up? Something   
suspicious?"  
  
"No" he answered. "Hey, I can have some fun once in a while,   
too. This place is great! If you walk up to the people sitting  
in those chairs by the picnic area, they throw food at you!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The night went on, the carnival lights blazing with a light  
never seen by most of Galesburg. Closing time was coming soon-  
  
The group walked to the exits, laughing and chattering among  
the crowd around them. Skyler said goodbye to her friends, and   
wandered back in to see if Orion had left.  
  
Nope, he was still by the mirror house, watching the people   
leave. Skyler ran up to him. "Hey, the place is closing. We  
have to go. We can come back tomorrow-"  
  
"No" he said sharply. "We're staying."  
  
"What?! Orion, there won't be anyone here for food."  
  
"That's not what I mean. Something strange is happening. I  
ran into the carnival's owner, and he seemed to be very out   
of it. You need to hide."  
  
Skyler managed to squeeze under the back fence of the property  
and into the corn. They waited for quite some time, and Skyler  
was drifting off to sleep. Good thing today was Friday-  
  
"Sky! Orion barked. "Follow that girl."  
  
A girl was walking along the path. Skyler recognized her   
immediately. It was that "Sailor Scout" they had seen in the   
last Harmony encounter. They crept out, making sure they were  
close enough to the stands to hide in case she turned. She  
went into a tent, that they had seen a little acrobatic show  
in earlier that day.   
  
"Everyone's gone" the "Scout" announced, flipping her hair  
behind her shoulders.  
  
"Good work, Rayne" another girl commented, standing up. This one  
was tall, with short pink hair and clever pink hair. She wore a  
navy blue leather jacket, with white insulator sticking out the  
ends, heavy-looking cargo pants, and black hiking boots. "All  
right, Inpherno, you got the next part covered?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, sure Enygma" a rather sour-looking woman stepped  
out from some of the tent flaps. She had incredibly bright red  
hair, sticking out down to her waist in two stiff spikes. She  
wore a simple red shirt and pants, and a trench coat. "Just  
hope Typhune and Quayke are doing their jobs."   
  
"HEY! I'm fine" a tiny voice shouted.  
  
It was that little acrobat, the one that had taken Mr. Charen's  
Harmony. She stood on a bleacher, her arms crossed and her light  
blue eyes focused on Inpherno. "Typhune doesn't mess up" she added  
proudly.  
  
"Okay, that's great" Inpherno grumbled. "But where's Quayke?"  
  
"Right here" a soft voice responded.  
  
Another woman stepped in, her long green robe waving a bit as she  
walked to the group. Her purple hair was bound in a ponytail, but  
the ends stood out like long sticks. She had a headband as well,  
with a beautiful flower attached. Her gentle emerald eyes were   
alert, but Skyler was struck by the sorrow in them, in her whole  
expression. A deep, inconsolable sadness seemed to hold her and  
everything around her in an invisible shade of blue. Skyler felt  
sorry for her, and she didn't even know who she was, besides that  
her name was Quayke.  
  
"All right, everyone clear on what we're doing? Tommorow, I'm   
going to be the announcer for the fireworks. Inpherno, you've  
got them set up?"  
  
"Yep. Gonna be the 4th of July in September."  
  
"The rest of us, after the lights go out, we got Harmonies to   
find."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The crowd's murmurs flooded through the darkness. They reached  
Sailor Aquila's ears, but she couldn't tell one conversation from  
the other from her position on top of the mirror house. She glanced  
around nervously. "Orion, if all these people get their Harmonies  
stolen, how are we going to be able to take them all?"  
  
"That won't happen" he replied sharply. "So far, the enemy's run  
away when you show up. That means they aren't prepared for a fight.  
Hopefully you won't have to take anything on, but at most you should  
only have to face one or two."  
  
A sudden burst of color lit up the sky. All attention turned there,  
with gasps of surprise and delight. Aquila, too, was smiling. "Kewl!"  
  
Minutes later, through the explosions and crackling, Aquila heard a  
loud scream. It was from a man.  
  
There was Rayne, a Harmony in hand. Aquila stood up and spread her  
sandal wings. That still felt a little strange to her, but there  
was no time to think about it. She glided over to the scene.   
  
"HEY! Look, lady, it's nice you brought a little carnival out here,  
but for most people this isn't a good time! In the name of freedom,  
I am Sailor Aquila, here to bring harmony back to the world!"   
  
Rayne looked up, with an annoyed expression. "What? You again? Go  
away-"  
  
"No way."  
  
Out of nowhere, a huge flying object came right at Aquila. She   
didn't have time to duck out of the way, it smacked right into her  
and she smashed into the house of mirrors. Several screams filled  
the air now as the crowd realized what was going on.   
  
Aquila started up at the creature in front of her- a huge brown  
bat, with huge white teeth. She rolled out of the way as the teeth  
clamped onto a mirror where she had just been.  
  
"Aquila!" she heard Orion yell. "Fire now!"  
  
"Huh? But I can't see-" Skyler was facing the opposite direction  
of the bat.   
  
"The mirrors reflect your feathers, remember?"  
  
Her eyes brightened. "Oh yeah! RAZOR FEATHER FLURRY!"  
  
She aimed her hand at an angled mirror and fired. The feather  
turned, and she heard the bat screeching behind her. In a few   
seconds, it was back into a Harmony with Orion's help.  
  
Aquila turned to the place where Rayne had been, but there were  
no traces of her or any of those other people.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Skyler, Devin, and Karen all stood on the opposite side of  
the road, watching the vacant lot of the McGillar place. "I  
can't believe they packed up so fast-" Karen breathed. "You  
think they'll come back?"  
  
"Maybe" Skyler sighed. "But no more fireworks."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Silver Lining

SAILOR MOON HARMONY  
EPISODE 5-SILVER LINING  
  
"Rayne, are you lazy or something? Why'd you leave?"  
  
Inpherno paced around impatiently in front of Rayne,  
who only responded with an annoyed roll of her eyes.  
This irritated Inpherno even more, but she contained  
her anger. After all, if she blew up, Rayne wouldn't  
care anyway.  
  
Of course, Rayne was like that about everything. A  
whole world war could start right before her eyes  
and she could care less, she would shrug it off and  
find somewhere else to go. Not like Typhune, who   
would get excited about every little thing. Still,   
she had no clue what was going on most of the time.  
Quayke was a different story. Inpherno almost felt  
sorry for her at times, but more often she would feel  
more anger towards her. What was she so sad about   
all the time anyway? She would tell her mentally,  
it's time to move on. Forget about it! There's   
nothing worth this kind of bleakness- but Quayke  
would only curl up into a corner if she said that  
out loud-  
  
Then there was Enygma.  
  
No one could quite tell what was going on in her   
mind, but whatever it was, she wouldn't tell them.  
It seemed to be a game to her-   
  
"Now peoples, there's no need to argue."  
  
Enygma had stepped in, along with Typhune. Inpherno   
scowled- Typhune followed Enygma everywhere. Didn't  
she have her own life?  
  
"Seems we do have a problem though- Earth's got a  
few Sailor Scouts. Quayke did some research for us."  
  
"Yes" Quayke said, with an unusual hint of authority  
in her tone. "The Scouts of this planet system seemed  
to have all gathered on earth- they may be the have  
the Melody Crystals. Sailor Mercury, the first of the  
system, has powers based on water and ice. The second  
of the system, Sailor Venus, has powers based on   
light and metal. The fourth of the system, Sailor   
Mars, has powers based on fire. Sailor Jupiter, the   
fifth of the system, has powers based on lightning.  
There are also three more but we can't seem to get   
any more information on them- the sixth, Sailor Saturn,  
the seventh, Sailor Uranus, the eighth, Sailor Neptune."  
  
"But there's a planet called Pluto on the edge of the   
system" Enygma added thoughtfully. "Where's that Scout?"  
  
"She's not on Earth at this time, at least our sensors  
haven't picked her up."  
  
"And what about the Scout of Earth?"  
  
"Well- we aren't picking up one. But there is another,  
from Luna, Earth's moon. Sailor Moon is a very powerful  
one, we must be careful not to alert her."  
  
"OK, so who's the one that keeps trashing us?" Rayne  
asked.  
  
"She's not from this system, apparently. She's from the  
planet Kumori in the Aquila star system. At the time Sailor  
Kumori Aquila is the only Aquila scout on the planet Earth."  
  
"Well, she's the only one that's bothering us, too"   
Inpherno snarled.  
  
"Relax" Enygma said, with a gleam in her eye. "I've  
got a plan-"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Wow-" Orion whispered as the tiny rush of wind gently   
ruffled his feathers. "Well, I guess that's one thing   
Sailor Aquila won't have to work on."  
  
Skyler stopped in her tracks. "Well, yeah, I run all the   
time" she beamed. "People say I'm the fastest runner in   
school" she added informatively.  
  
Orion grinned, as much as an eagle could. "You can't   
beat me."  
  
Skyler's smile faded a bit, and Orion's did with it.  
"What's wrong?"  
  
She shook her head. "It's nothing-"  
  
Orion cocked his head curiously, with a questioning  
chirp.  
  
"It's- my brother. That's what he always used to  
say to Turbo."  
  
"Um- sorry" Orion dropped his head. "Didn't mean  
to upset you. But there are a few things I'd like  
to know. Like, what was he like? It's obvious he   
looked up to you, I can see you cared a lot about   
him."  
  
"Yeah. We got along really well. But I had to be around  
him at school to protect him."  
  
"Why?" Orion inquired.  
  
"Because everyone teased him because he was so short."  
  
Skyler's eyes turned cold, and she glanced back  
at the creek. Orion decided to stop the questions. He  
would have to keep this girl's mind focused if he were  
ever to help her fight better.  
  
She made it clear that she was done with training for  
that day, though, and headed for the house. Orion   
followed tentatively, landing on her roof as she went  
inside.  
  
"Tonight" he mumbled. "Tonight we'll try something   
different-"  
  
"It's you again!" a familiar voice called.  
  
Skyler's father stood in front of the house,   
staring up at Orion. "You got a nest around here or  
something, don't you?"   
  
Orion decided it was best not to acknowledge that.  
After all, normal eagles didn't talk.   
  
"You're a nice-looking bird. I wonder if Skyler's   
seen you around yet. She loves eagles, you know." He  
put the newspaper he was carrying on a patio chair on  
the porch, continuing on as he went. "I'm surprised  
those people in town haven't been looking for that   
eagle instead of that silver bracelet. That has to be   
worth a lot-"  
  
'Silver bracelet?' Orion repeated.  
  
As soon as he heard the screen door slam, he fluttered  
down and unfolded the paper with his beak. It was a   
little difficult for him to open the pages, but he didn't  
have to go that far. There was a large advertisement on  
the next page.  
  
Skyler stared into the mirror, and was startled a bit  
by her own serious expression. Her eyes were a frozen  
color, of snow on a moonlit night. She blinked a few  
times, but she couldn't lose the look.   
  
And then, a sense of familiarity came to her. She had  
been doing this before. This same look, different   
background, different lighting-  
  
And her hair was totally frizzed out.  
  
She couldn't help but laugh after that, and picked up   
a hairbrush lying on the dresser. She straighted her  
hair out in the mirror.  
  
Orion's reflection appeared behind hers as the wind  
chimes announced his arrival. "Skyler, something's up."  
  
"What?" she replied, a bit more cheerfully that she   
had been speaking before. "Like my new hair style?" she  
added with another giggle.   
  
"Skyler, may I see the Hurricane Ring, please?"  
  
He studied it. "Just as I thought-"  
  
"What? What's going on?"  
  
"Someone's lost a bracelet that looks exactly like this.  
There is a full-page ad in the paper offering a 10,000  
dollar reward for it."  
  
Skyler's eyes widened. "Really?!" she narrowed her eyes.  
"Orion, you didn't steal this bracelet, did you?"  
  
"No!" Orion's feather fluffed as a flapped his wings.   
"But if this is the bracelet their looking for, you might  
not be the only Scout around."  
  
"Huh? Another Scout?" Skyler said excitedly.   
  
"Yes. Could even be another Sailor Aquila."  
  
"What do you mean?" Skyler blinked. "How can there be more  
than one-"  
  
"Think about it. Not everyone in the universe sees the   
constellations the same way. The geography was worked out   
that way because- oh never mind. See, your Scout powers  
actually come from a planet in a solar system in the   
Aquila constellation, Kumori. That technically makes you  
Sailor Kumori Aquila. But you just say Sailor Aquila because  
you haven't seen any other Aquileans around."  
  
"I AM an alien?!" Skyler squealed.  
  
"Nononono" Orion replied. "You were born here. It's your  
powers that come from that planet."  
  
"So back to this newspaper ad. What is it, really?"  
  
"I don't know. But-" he glanced at the Hurricane Ring. "I  
don't suggest you walk around with that in public."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The streets were very busy this day, most people's eyes   
towards the ground. Skyler happened to be on her way to   
the airport.  
  
"Wow" she breathed. "It's like that carnival last week-  
  
Orion lit in a tree above her head. "This could be more   
of a problem than we thought" he said.  
  
"Orion, someone will hear you-" Skyler warned quietly.  
  
"Relax, no one can hear me unless I want them to. But they  
can hear you, so I'd advise you keep walking. Meet me out  
at the cornfield right past town."   
  
He fluttered away. Skyler took off on her rollerblades.   
As she passed through town, she noticed that even Karen  
was out searching. Skyler laughed out loud when she   
thought of how similar they looked to her chickens-  
  
Something caught her eye that had been catching it   
ever since she came into town, but now she stopped and   
paid attention to it. Red signs, copies of that wanted  
poster in the newspaper. She pushed the Hurricane Ring  
farther in her pocket and continued on her way.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"All right, what's up?" Skyler asked as she rolled into  
the ditch.  
  
"I've been talking with some- friends of mine" Orion  
started as he flapped over to her. "See, you're right.  
It is risky to be seen talking directly to each other,  
or for me to be around you when I'm with Sailor Aquila  
as well. Too many people could make a connection. So   
I got a two-way communnicator for us.  
  
Clutched in his talons were two objects. One was a blue  
bracelet. The other was a tiny blue ring, no larger than  
Skyler's finger. "Put the small one on me and the large  
one on you."  
  
She did so, placing hers on the opposite hand of where   
Hurricane Ring usually was, and his around his leg. "Now,   
wherever you are, if you want to talk to me just say it,   
and if the bracelet senses it's for me it will send the   
message to my ring. The same goes for me."  
  
"All right, brain paging" Skyler said, smiling.   
  
Orion hopped up on a corn stalk. "They've closed the   
airport. You might as well go home."  
  
"HUH?! Why?"  
  
"Not sure, but I don't have a good feeling. I'll meet   
you back at the house."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
On the way back through town, Skyler passed by Karen   
again. "Hi!" she called.   
  
Karen didn't even look up. Skyler frowned. Karen heard   
everything headed in her direction, and the area was  
pretty quiet, despite all the people.   
  
That realization got Skyler creeped. There were so many  
people there- but no one spoke a word. Her greeting had  
shot through the silence like an explosion, but no one  
noticed. She skated faster.  
  
As she left, Karen watched, and her eyes gleamed-  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Skyler's house was empty when she came home. She thought  
she had gotten over that chill that came to her when she  
found no one was home- but her memories still haunted her,  
no matter how much she showed on the outside.   
  
"Oriole" she whispered. "It's too quiet in here-"  
  
She looked over to Turbo, who was resting peacefully on  
the floor for once. The cats were nowhere in sight. 'C'mon,  
something move' she thought.  
  
'Please do something-'  
  
Flashback feeling again. She had been standing like this   
again- somewhere-  
  
"Skyler"  
  
Skyler blinked back into reality. "Huh? What?"  
  
"Did you say something before? I think I know what's-"  
  
Someone opened the door. "Hold on Orion, I think my parents  
are home."  
  
But it wasn't her parents. It wasn't even a tall figure.  
It was Karen.  
  
"Hey!" Skyler called. "I said hi in the town square, what  
were you doing?"  
  
Skyler turned her back for a minute. She had to feed Turbo  
and the cats. She was about to open the cabinet doors when   
she felt a hand on her shoulder. An ice-cold hand that   
startled a scream out of her.  
  
"Geez, Karen- what-"  
  
She trailed off when she found herself staring into a pair  
of glowing crimson eyes.  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"I know you have it" she growled. "Give up the ring-"  
  
Skyler froze. She couldn't drag her sight away from   
the eyes. They were digging into her soul-  
  
"Skyler, what's going on?!"  
  
Orion's voice snapped her back. She raced up the stairs.  
"It's Karen! She-"  
  
"That's what I was trying to tell you! Those posters all  
over the town are making people obsessed. You either have  
to leave the town or find the source of the posters."  
  
"Well, I'm kinda in a situation here-"  
  
"Give it up. Now" Karen hissed from the doorway.  
  
Skyler backed to the corner, the wind chimes tangling  
in her hair with muffled clanging. Karen advanced, her  
hands clenched in claw-like forms. She lashed out with   
her fingernails.  
  
The bracelet clattered to the floor and rolled to Karen.  
She picked it up.  
  
"I've got it-" she chuckled.  
  
A blinding flash of light exploded in front of Karen,   
sending her crashing to the opposite wall. Out of the  
light appeared a pink-haired woman.  
  
"It's Enygma-" Skyler whispered towards Orion.   
  
"Hello there, Miss Aquila" Enygma grinned, taking the   
bracelet and flinging it back towards Skyler.  
  
Skyler's eyes widened. 'So this was a trap for Sailor   
Aquila-' she realized.   
  
She snuck over to the open window and out to the roof.  
  
Enygma glanced at the crystal in her hand. It glowed a  
soft, reddish-yellow glow, warming slowly with a steadily  
increasing flame. But it was not what she was looking for.  
"I would have thought someone with that power-" she sighed.  
"But it's not even the right element. Oh well-"  
  
"HEY!"   
  
The wind chimes turned in an unseen wind, with the hair  
of the figure standing in front of the window.  
  
"Guess who?"  
  
"What?!" Enygma shrieked. "It can't be you- you're-"  
  
"I am Sailor Aquila, here to bring harmony back to the  
world!" she grinned.  
  
Enygma scowled, and reached to her belt. Out came a large,  
plastic-like gun.  
  
A sapphire laser whooshed right by Aquila's ears and   
exploded into sparks on the wall behind her. Aquila rolled   
to the floor with a small squeak. "A-a laser gun? Orion-"  
  
"Don't be afraid-" Enygma coaxed with a smirk. "Come on out.  
It'll only hurt for a second."  
  
Aquila's hand stuck around the corner of the bed. "RAZOR   
FEATHER FLURRY!"  
  
Feathers flooded the room. Enygma growled and put up her   
arms to shield her face, but the feathers tore right through  
her jacket, leaving large slashes in whatever was in the   
feathers' path.   
  
Aquila peered out from behind the bed. Enygma had her arms  
crossed, trying to cover the bleeding cuts that showed  
through her clothing. "I don't have time for this" she   
snarled, tossing the flaming Harmony in front of Aquila   
before disappearing in another flash.  
  
The Harmony flickered and roared, and a rabbit appeared  
out of the fire. It was no more than a foot tall. "Umm-  
0 0()" Aquila approached it. "What is it-"  
  
Without warning, flames roared up in Aquila's face. She   
jerked back and fell, covering her eyes. Her gloves were  
scorched. "Razor Feather-"  
  
But she couldn't even see her target. Smoke had flooded  
the room, blocking out all light and clouding into her  
lungs. She searched blindly for the window. "Orion" she   
choked to the communicator. "Help-"  
  
"Aquila, where are you?"  
  
"I'm-"  
  
She was seized by a fit of coughing, and felt the air   
practically drained out of her. It was followed by a light  
sensation, she lowered to the floor as the smoke thickened  
even more. She could see flames through the fog, blurring  
slowly as a distant pain flowed through her chest.  
  
Then, a cool spray gently touched her face, calming the air  
around her. She looked up in time to see a beam of water  
go by, sending the rabbit to the wall in a cloud of white   
smoke. Then the fog seeped into her mind like a shadow,   
and there was nothing but a sleepy darkness-  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Skyler"  
  
Orion's calm tone persuaded her eyes to open. She was staring  
at her ceiling, lit by a single ray of yellow moonlight. The  
eagle stood on Skyler's nightstand. "Good. You're OK now."  
  
"Huh?" Skyler sat up, still a little dizzy. She was back to   
normal form. "Orion, what happened? Where's-"  
  
"Karen's at home. She won't remember anything- and neither  
will your parents. This evening will not exist in other's  
minds, we will be the only ones to remember."  
  
"But what about that water blast-"  
  
"What?"  
  
"The water that put out the fire."   
  
One of Orion's eyes widened. "I think you may have been   
hallucinating-"  
  
"No. I didn't put out the fire."  
  
"Just rest up. You're going to need it, if you're going to  
be up tomorrow."  
  
Skyler rested her head back down on the pillow. Her stomach  
churned painfully, and she squeezed out a few small tears.  
"Orion-" she whimpered.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I don't know if want to be Sailor Aquila anymore-"  
  
Orion nestled down by her. "I'm afraid you don't have a   
choice."  
  
"But why me? Why would I-"  
  
"Some things you're not meant to know yet. Skyler, you're  
handling your responsibility very well. I'm sure your   
brother would be very proud of you, you know. I mean, it  
wouldn't be every day that your big sister really was   
saving the world-"  
  
Skyler smiled a tiny smile as she looked at the bracelet.  
Despite all the smoke and soot that had filled the room  
it had remained in it's perfect sparkling condition.   
  
"Yeah, I think he is-"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	6. The Lion and the Unicorn

SAILOR MOON HARMONY  
EPISODE 6-THE LION AND THE UNICORN  
  
"Soara-"  
  
Skyler saw the lights swing as a cold breeze curled around  
her. The gym again. The faded green walls gleamed faintly  
under the shifting light. She knew what was coming next- but  
this time she was ready.  
  
She jumped when she saw the figures in the door, but she   
stood firmly in place. If they were going to bother her   
every night, she was going to find out why.  
  
"SOARA!"  
  
Skyler cringed, but stood her ground. That voice was even   
louder than her dad used to shout over his airplane engine,  
and it didn't even sound like the guy was trying. It was   
the tone, the harsh fury behind the shout that made her   
flinch.   
  
Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was a soft, calming  
touch, yet for no reason a profound sorrow came with it.   
"Someday you will understand-" an airy voice sighed.  
  
A familiar voice-  
  
Then the light came, and Skyler knew she couldn't do anything  
else. She could see her ceiling materializing through it.  
  
"Ohh-" she mumbled. "Missed it-"  
  
"Missed what?" Orion asked.  
  
He stood on her desk, on the opposite side of the room. A  
small bowl lay next to him, half-full of grapes. She   
quickly debated if she should tell him what she was seeing.  
After all, in the dream she had been determined to find out  
what was going on, and he might know something. Still, she  
didn't really know him well enough to tell him dreams- that  
was something, in her mind, that was for really close family  
and friends only. She didn't want to lie to him, though-  
  
"N-Nothing" she replied at last. "A dream, that's all-"  
  
Orion snapped up a grape and tried to chew on it, but   
it was too small to move. He dropped it on the desk and   
attempted to pick it up at different angle. Skyler stuck  
her tongue out in disgust. "You don't know what's been on  
that desk-"  
  
"Skyler, I'm an eagle. Like it will matter-" he managed to  
swallow it and fluttered over to her. "You know, dreams   
have meaning, especially to Sailor Scouts."  
  
"Really-" Skyler caught sight of the alarm clock, then got  
to her feet and scooped Orion up in her arms. "I have to   
get ready for school. Out."  
  
Orion squirmed out of her grasp. "I can walk by myself"  
he clucked before hopping out the window.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
She watched the sunlight glimmer across Orion's golden   
wings as he soared away, with a wishful sigh. He could   
just glide through the sky all day, leaving the whole  
world behind for a boundless dimension of his own. He   
denied that he just did that all day, but he never had   
any new information, either.   
  
"I know you're out there right now-" she said over the  
communicator. "I can hear the wind."  
  
"I'm searching. You know, someone's probably staring at  
you and thinking 'Why's she talking to herself?'" he   
retorted.  
  
She shook her head as she walked into the classroom.   
That eagle so far had never failed to talk his way out  
of a jam-  
  
Her train of thought was broken as someone brushed into  
her, almost knocking her backpack off. "Hey-" she   
grumbled.  
  
"Excuse me."  
  
It had been a girl, about three inches taller than her,  
a thin, pale face framed by wavy, sun-gold hair that  
reached just past her shoulders. Her bangs cascaded over  
deep, narrow emerald eyes. She was wearing a sleeveless  
shirt, slightly flared jeans, and thick sandals with wide  
straps. She touched one slender hand to her mouth   
nervously. Her nails were neatly trimmed and painted with  
bright colors of pearls and fuschia, not a crack or chip  
anywhere.  
  
"Um- hi" Skyler started. She had not seen this girl before.  
  
"Hi, is this Ms. Mather's room?" the girl responded,   
smiling somewhat cautiously.  
  
"Yeah" Skyler returned the smile with a bit more confidence.  
"You're new here?"  
  
"We moved in from Montana a little while ago. My name's   
Jillian Donner" she introduced.  
  
"I'm Skyler Avis. Most people call me Sky."  
  
"OK, kewl" Jillian's smile widened, revealing the whitest  
set of teeth Skyler had ever seen. "Well, thanks for saying  
hi. No one even turned a second look at me before."  
  
"They probably think you're from a different class" Skyler  
reasoned. "You look older than sixth grade."  
  
"My mom did too, when I was her age."  
  
A gleam of yellow light caught Skyler's eye, and she   
glanced over to the window. Orion was there, watching   
them. Skyler nearly forgot where she was when she opened  
her mouth towards a communication, but Jillian reminded  
her. "Oh wow, what's that?!"  
  
She scrambled over to the window where Orion was. Orion  
fluttered back, landing on the ground, all the while   
keeping at least one eye on her.   
  
"Orion, she can see you-" Skyler whispered as softly as  
possible.  
  
"NO KIDDING! Who is she?"  
  
"I guess she's a transfer student. She says she's from   
Montana."  
  
"Well, she shouldn't be able to see me. Talk to her a bit  
more. I think there's another energy here-"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"I see the problem-" Enygma muttered. "Don't yell,   
Inpherno."  
  
Rayne's shuffling footsteps echoed across the silver   
floor. The others glanced up as she entered the room,  
a manila folder in hand. "Quayke said to give you this"  
she grumbled. "This better be something good, cause   
I'm tired of sitting up in this ship all day-"  
  
Inpherno smirked. "So you do actually want to do   
something?"  
  
"What's it to you?"  
  
"We could actually move this ship to other places if  
you would get out and help me-"  
  
Their silver, jet-like spaceship had been caught in   
Earth's gravity and had remained in the same place for  
days. Inpherno had been trying to locate the problem,  
but Enygma had instructed them to look for those  
Harmony Crystals instead.   
  
And they didn't even know what a Melody Crystal looked  
like. They knew all about their power- each one   
regulating one element. They knew where to find them-  
Harmonies.  
  
"So when we get this fixed, are we going to move, or  
we going to clean up this little city?"  
  
"We're moving" Enygma responded with no hesitation.   
"We don't need this Sailor Scout on our tail."  
  
"Yeah, but what if she knows where we are?" Typhune  
thought out loud. "I was watching the city with Quayke,  
and she only shows up when there's a problem. Maybe  
she's a ghost or something-"  
  
"Wait- I got it" Enygma took the folder from Rayne   
and set it down on a control panel nearby. "See,   
there's a lot of rumors in this town about ghosts  
and things like that. Maybe we can use this to our   
advantage-"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"So is it true?" Jillian asked, leaning back on the  
patio chair.  
  
"Is what true?"  
  
Skyler and Jillan had been out on the porch for the  
past few hours, Skyler trying to help Jillian catch  
up with the rest of the class with math. It wasn't   
one of Skyler's favorite subjects, but Jillian hated  
it with a passion. It was break time for now.  
  
"All those ghost stories I hear. Like ghosts in the  
cornfields. How close is this place to Dyersville   
anyway?" Jillian grinned and disguised her voice.  
"Is this heaven?"  
  
"No, this is Iowa" Skyler laughed. "Field of Dreams.  
Actually, we've never been there. I don't think it's  
that far. I know Iowa isn't. Hey, what was it like in  
Montana?"  
  
"No offense, but I think the city was much better.   
My dad dragged me out here because of the apartment  
construction. We live there now, you know. My dad  
was in charge-"  
  
"Really" Skyler replied. Out of the corner of her   
eye, she caught Orion spying from the lone bush at   
the corner of the house.  
  
"So back to the ghost thing. Are there really ghosts  
in the cornfields? Has anyone seen them?"  
  
"I haven't seen any."  
  
"Hey" Jillian whispered, narrowing her eyes. "I got   
an idea. Let's go out after dark and look in the   
fields."  
  
"Um- well, I dunno. My parents might say no-"  
  
"Just tell them you have to show me back to the   
apartments. I'm new here, they'll understand.  
  
Skyler hesitated, but she heard a whisper from the  
communicator. "Go with her. I'll make sure you don't  
get in trouble."  
  
She grinned, and Orion flapped off, startling Jillian.  
Fortunately she didn't turn around in time to see him.  
"Huh- did you hear that?"  
  
Without missing a beat, Skyler came up with an   
explanation. "Probably a bird's nest in the bush-   
they're all over this place. Crows, they get in the  
corn. C'mon, let's get going. It'll be dark soon."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Ow" Jillian whimpered as she quickly stepped over a  
small rut Skyler had warned her about. "You know, corn  
stalks are a lot sharper than they look-"  
  
"Just use your arms" Skyler instructed. "Push them   
away. They won't bother you. But don't break them, that  
gets the farmers mad."  
  
"Really?" Jillian cocked an eyebrow. "And you know this-  
how?"   
  
Skyler stopped in her tracks, allowing a cornstalk to  
snap back over and hide her expression. "Yeah- 0 0()   
well, if you must know, it was our own field. We made  
a little fort inside a square of corn."  
  
"'We?'" Jillian questioned.  
  
"Um-" Skyler's voice softened. "Me and my brother, Oriole."  
  
"Oriole?!" Jillian giggled.   
  
She stopped when she saw Skyler's eyes gleam dangerously.   
Her face had hardened to a shadowy anger- but only for a   
moment. "Sorry-" Jillian said, moving back down a couple   
stalks. "How old is he? How come I didn't see him today?"  
  
"A tornado took him away last month."  
  
"Took him-" Jillian repeated. "Oh, I see."  
  
"They didn't find him yet, but I know he's not coming back."  
  
Skyler took a seat on the ground. Eventually Jillian  
did as well, deciding that she could always wash the mud  
out of her new clothes. "I know what that's like, kinda.  
No tornado, though."  
  
Skyler at her in question.  
  
"My mom. It was a long time ago, though. My dad's acting  
way too happy, too- even I know that you shouldn't bottle  
up feelings like that."   
  
Jillian pulled something out from under her shirt- a   
golden chain. Attached was a small but incredibly   
striking white locket, in the shape of a star. "This was  
my mom's. Kewl, huh? We can't find out what it's made of  
yet, though."  
  
"I got something-" Skyler showed her the silver bracelet.  
"See, I'm not sure where this came from-"  
  
A blast of cold wind suddenly rippled the corn, coming  
unusually strong through the leaves. Skyler put her hands  
up to shield her face, but Jillian stood up. "Sky, c'mon!  
Cold air means ghosts!"  
  
That got her up. They moved in the direction of the wind,   
squinting against the cold blast and their tossing bangs.  
Then, they pushed out to an open field. Skyler recognized   
it. "How'd we get out by the airport?" she mumbled.   
  
"Oh- LOOK!"  
  
Hovering in the field, blowing in the wind right towards  
them, was a ball of light. A glowing tumbleweed of sorts,  
rolling right towards them.  
  
The girls' screams carried in the wind, but not far enough   
for anyone to hear. Jillian didn't seem to mind the corn's  
leaves slashing at her face this time. "Is it following  
us?!" she shrieked.   
  
Skyler caught sight of it in the corner of her eye. "Uh,   
yes!"  
  
The light made shadows of the corn and their pounding foot-  
steps as the tumbleweed drew closer, bouncing off the   
cornstalks. Skyler turned a different way in the corn and  
dragged Jillian with her, but tripped over a fallen stalk.  
  
"Get up!" Jillian yelled.  
  
"I can't run anymore-" Skyler panted.  
  
The light intensified behind Jillian's head-  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Orion watched Jillian disappear into the darkness again.  
"Sky, are you sure there's nothing suspicious about her?"  
  
"Not really. She's like any other sixth grader I know."  
  
"Why hasn't she invited you to her house?"  
  
"Give her a break! She just moved in there-" Skyler leaned  
back on her bed. "Hope she doesn't try to run through the   
cornfield again. I doubt she will-"  
  
"Why?" Orion questioned as he scanned the floor for any  
grapes he dropped this morning.   
  
"There was a ghost yesterday."  
  
"Ghost?" he laughed. "There's no ghosts here. You said   
this yourself."  
  
"But we saw one" Skyler insisted. "It was weird, too. It  
was just a ball of light, kinda floating at us."  
  
"Stop trying to scare me."  
  
"It's true! It landed on Jillian's head and it   
disappeared!"  
  
"Tell you what" Orion chirped, jumping to the windowsill.  
"Show me where you saw this 'ghost', and I'll see what it  
really was. 'K?"  
  
Skyler scowled at him. Guardians were supposed to help out,  
she knew that, but she couldn't tell if he was making fun  
of her or not. "Fine."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Jillian hair caught on the cornstalk again. She ran her   
fingers through it in frustration, and continued on. "It's  
gotta be around here somewhere. Maybe I should have asked  
Skyler to come with-"  
  
Her hair flew up as that blast of cold wind came through  
again, but she stood her ground and kept her eyes wide  
open.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
~Golden stars, silver moon~  
~The past I will never forget~  
~The links of the galaxy have been strewn~  
~It's time to reconnect~  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Jillian blinked rapidly. "What were those words?!" she   
wondered out loud. "Something weird's going on-"  
  
"Who are you?" a growling voice asked.  
  
A tall silhouette stepped out from some stalks. "You're  
not supposed to be here" it hissed.  
  
Jillian froze, realizing it was most likely the owner   
of the field. "I-I'm sorry. I'm new here. I didn't know-"  
  
"You are not the one."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"No- but your Harmony glows bright-"  
  
"Oh no you don't!"  
  
In a flash of silver, Jillian felt herself lifted away   
from the ground. She was staring into a pair of   
determined gray eyes.   
  
"Skyler?" she whispered.  
  
But when the figure set her down, it didn't look like   
Skyler. In fact, it looked like-  
  
"A Sailor Scout?!" she gasped.  
  
The Scout winked. "Yep, Sailor Aquila! I gotta take  
care of this, OK?"  
  
Sailor Aquila disappeared into the stalks again.   
Jillian watched, but didn't know what to do-  
  
"You!"  
  
A voice had come from above her. Orion hovered there.  
  
"You're talking-" Jillian breathed. The Scout alone  
was enough to stun her frozen.  
  
"You're a Sailor Scout."  
  
His words didn't have any impact on her at first,   
but when they finally did, she almost fell over. "How  
do you know?"  
  
"There's a horn on your head-"  
  
Jillian crossed her eyes upwards, but couldn't see  
anything. "I'll take your word for it. What do I do?"  
  
"Aquila, this is the last time you're haunting us!"   
Orion heard Typhune proclaim.  
  
The five Harmony seekers had surrounded Aquila,   
knocking down cornstalks as they closed in. She was   
going to warn them about the farmer- but there were  
probably more important things on their mind.   
  
"Back up" Aquila warned.  
  
The five all pulled out mirrors at the same time.  
  
"Oops-"  
  
Suddenly everyone got a strange sensation that something  
was moving. Something was pulling the air around them,  
up into the sky, building energy-  
  
-into a white-gloved hand.  
  
"COSMIC SOUL MELODY!"  
  
An explosion of white light shattered the mirrors to  
bits. The five jumped back away from the falling glass.  
  
"Looks like someone's going to get the farmers mad-"  
  
Aquila smirked.  
  
"-but you won't get away with it."  
  
Another Scout stepped into view. Her wavy blond hair  
was streaked with pink, the same bright pink that was  
splashed across her shirt and sailor collar, and the   
four-point star on her white choker. Her bow gleamed  
a pearly white, her white high heels shuffled the dirt  
loudly. Two ribbons extended from the back bow, each  
with a spiral horn on the end.   
  
"In the name of unity, I am Sailor Monoceros, here to  
bring harmony back to the world!"  
  
"Another one?!" Inpherno groaned. "We don't need this-"  
  
"Well, I like a challenge, but I don't get into battles  
I'm not prepared for" Enygma sighed. "I guess we'll be  
seeing both of you around-"  
  
The five teleported away.  
  
"You scared them" Aquila beamed.  
  
"It was nothing-"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"So your dad didn't really build this place?" Skyler  
asked.  
  
"Yeah" Jillian's eyes were locked to the ground. "He's  
a psychiatrist. I guess I didn't tell you- well, I like   
my dad, really, but I hate psychiatrists. They always  
think they know every single move you make, my dad's   
always analyzing things, you know- that's why I never  
brought you to my apartment. He'd probably start in on  
you."  
  
"^_^() That's all right" Skyler replied. "But you're  
a Scout too!" she said in a more excited, but quieter  
tone.  
  
"Yeah, I thought they were ghosts once-"  
  
"Umm, hey Skyler" Orion cut in. "You know, about that  
tumbleweed-"  
  
The girl's screams were heard all across town.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. Forest of Silence

SAILOR MOON HARMONY  
EPISODE 7-THE FOREST OF SILENCE  
  
Her crystalline eyes sparkled as they took in the amazingly  
lucid color of her surroundings. Deep, shadowy greens   
spread before her in a collage of soft leaves and wispy  
grass. The sunlight poured through in perfect rays,   
illuminating the forest floor to a comforting wood-like  
color. She brushed along many hidden thorns, but she didn't  
mind. They were all hidden behind rosy, thick-petal blooms.  
  
Jillian could barely gather her thoughts at first. She  
finally managed to whisper, "I never thought I'd find  
woods like this around here. Especially in September-"  
  
A warm breeze brushed through, lifting a few crunched,   
golden leaves up into the sky. Some of them landed in  
Jillian's fluttering hair, but she didn't take notice.  
After all, one didn't go into a forest and expect to take  
a little bit of it home with them.  
  
Her thoughts began to stray away from the tranquil woods.  
At least there was one good thing about being here and   
not in Montana. At least it wasn't freezing cold yet. She  
might as well find good things about the place, since her  
father had made it clear they weren't going back to Montana.  
  
It was probably for the better anyway. Obviously, he still  
hadn't figured out a healthy way to deal with the loss of   
his wife. And Jillian knew from many of his patients that  
he'd probably cling to her like fuzz off a cottonwood tree.  
Maybe for the rest of his life. Jillian felt like she was  
stuffed in a CD case in that apartment.   
  
He kept telling her, "You're only 12, you're only 12. You  
sure seem older, but you're not old enough to go out on   
your own. It's a typical teenager train of thought- you  
think you know everything now. But trust me, you don't-"  
  
She shuddered in disgust at the thought. He'd probably  
still be saying that when she was 18. But there would be  
no way he could keep her there when she was legally an  
adult.   
  
And with the recent events, she would have to find time  
to get away. "It's a secret identity-type deal" Orion  
had told her, just before he gave her the communicator.  
"But you should know when Sailor Monoceros is needed."  
  
Yes, Sailor Monoceros. She had to keep that from her dad.  
At least it was hard to tell the real person from the   
Scout. When she looked closely at Sailor Aquila, her   
features were exactly the same as Skyler's, but the aura  
was completely different. She had an essence of strength,  
courage, maybe even a little bit of wisdom. Jillian could  
not imagine a bit of wisdom coming from Skyler, though  
she would never say that to her face.   
  
And how would she just know when Sailor Monoceros was   
supposed to be somewhere? That was a little much- and  
why did she get stuck with a weird name? Skyler had  
said her own name came from a constellation, she even  
pointed it out to her in the night sky. But she had   
never even heard of a Monoceros constellation.   
  
"If my friend Adrian were here, I could ask him, but  
he's off in college now" Skyler had explained.  
  
"Can you call him?"  
  
Her silvery eyes brightened. "Hey, yeah! He has a cell  
phone! And he's probably out watching the stars-"  
  
Adrian told them that Monoceros was the Unicorn, but it  
wouldn't be out until November, up in the east. He   
couldn't tell Jillian anymore of what she wanted to know.  
  
What she did want to know was if there was some meaning   
behind her Scout name and the constellation. Neither she  
or Skyler had any books like that. On top of that,   
Galesburg didn't have a library. An airport, but no library.  
"No wonder the Sailor Scouts are needed here" Jillian  
mumbled. "The citizens are just as crazy as the bad guys."  
  
These thoughts were making her tense, so she decided to   
let them go and enjoy her surroundings. She recalled a  
song she heard on the radio that morning. It was early  
and the sleep was still in her eyes and hair, but this  
song had played through her head so clear it was almost  
as if she could hear it now. She had never thought music  
could touch her like it had then. The lyrics moved from  
her thoughts to her voice-  
  
~Everyday, a shadow spills over the sky~  
~But not for everyone~  
~My life is under the shade, I wonder why~  
~And people say, it hasn't yet begun~  
  
~They say no one does it alone~  
~They already have someone to share~  
~What can a person do when all paths fall away~  
~When another's understanding is so rare~  
  
~Where can you go~  
~When home isn't home anymore~  
~In ice and snow~  
~You can't find the key in your own front door~  
~I'm standing in a blizzard, waiting~   
~For the welcome I always know~  
~But I'm only taken in by the storm-~  
  
She was interrupted when her foot caught under a large  
root. She almost tripped, but managed to step over with  
the other foot before the massive branch could take her  
down. Once she regained her balance, she took a look at  
what had wanted to keep her there.   
  
It was a giant tree. It towered over her like a   
skyscraper. She wondered briefly why she hadn't seen it  
from the outside. It's leaves flitted in the wind like  
glimmering sunlight in a brook, changing from a creamy  
jade green to a brilliant gold, and back with every   
turn. It's bark was cracked and chipped, but each piece  
was fit and the colors melded together so perfectly no   
one would have ever noticed. Thick, tightly-woven bushes  
protected the trunk of the tree with it's jewel-like  
blackberries. Jillian's eyes lit at the sight of them.  
"I thought it was way too late in the season for these!"  
she exclaimed, dashing over and kneeling by the tree.  
  
A metallic chirp rang out from overhead. Jillian was   
too occupied to see the neon green-spangled sparrow on  
a pine branch nearby. The melody drowned out the rapid  
beating of it's wings as it flew closer.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"How cheerful her song is-"  
  
Quayke's sorrowful eyes glimmered with faint tears as   
she turned up the volume on the control panel. It had  
taken her a little while to adjust to all this   
machinery, after all, there had been none at all where  
she had come from. Definetely not birds that could show  
what they were seeing and hearing.   
  
"The words carry a tone of a lost soul- but I see   
laughter in her eyes, joy in her music. Joy she isn't   
even aware of. But it will eventually diminish-"  
  
"No, it won't-"   
  
She heard Enygma's muffled voice through the headphones,  
and placed them down on the panel with extreme care.   
Inpherno had made it clear she didn't want to see   
anything more damaged than she already had to fix.   
  
"What do you mean?" Quayke asked softly, nonchalantly.  
  
She knew Enygma had heard her talking, but she didn't   
want her to see any tears. It might get back to   
Inpherno, and though the short-tempered redhead was  
not in command, Quayke was deathly afraid of her. She  
was a very tall woman, with a lot of raw strength   
from all the manual work she had done in her past.  
And she wouldn't take any "weak-minded chicken !@#$  
thinking" from anyone.  
  
"That girl has a Melody Crystal. This aura you speak  
of, it sounds to have the power of a Melody. She   
seems enchanted by the forest. That could be the earth  
Melody."  
  
"What should we do, then?"  
  
"One of us has to go after them. I would handle it   
myself, but I have other things to attend to. Quayke,  
you and the others decide what's going on, 'K? Call  
me when you have the Harmony and Melody."  
  
Quayke swallowed hard as she hurried out of the dark   
control room, her sandals padding softly under the   
swishing folds of her robe. She hated doing this-   
most of the time, the others were not friendly to her  
and from her previous meetings with them today it   
seemed that they would stay that way. Typhune would   
be the easiest to persuade, she got excited over   
practically every little thing that happened. Quayke   
headed to her room first.  
  
The short steel hallway gleamed with the dreary   
violet of Quayke's spiky hair as she approached   
Typhune's door. It was closed, and locked tight with   
a tiny red light. Quayke wasn't sure what to do,   
usually when the doors were locked they didn't want  
to be disturbed. But this was pretty important. If   
she wanted to go back home, she would have to do   
everything she could to finish this mission. She   
tapped on the door with her nails, a light knocking  
was all that was necessary to contact the person   
inside, despite the thickness of the walls.   
  
The light switched to one side, lighting up green.  
With a loud clank, the door squeaked open. She slid  
in through the crack, trying not to catch her robe  
on the corners.   
  
Typhune lay on her bed in the back corner, halfway  
curled into a ball and looking rather worn. Her face  
had warmed to a soft, bright pink, her normally   
clear, spirited eyes had dulled with a somber mist.  
Quayke approached tentatively, and when Typhune   
didn't send anything negative her way, she placed  
her hand on her cheek.  
  
"Just like Meruno" she whispered, remembering the  
steaming star that scorched her dusty home planet   
every day of the year. She was careful not to raise  
her voice, it was obvious that Typhune wasn't   
feeling well. Just to be sure, Quayke asked, and was  
answered with a thick mumble.  
  
"You'd better rest then. I may have something-"   
  
She reached into the deep, hidden pockets of her   
robe and retrieved a tiny glass vial, filled with  
a churning lavender mixture of foggy liquid and   
shredded petals. She removed the cap, letting loose  
a overwhelming stench that quickly left the room   
with Quayke.  
  
She returned with something with a much more   
pleasant smell, not to mention appearance. It had  
settled to a deep, soothing midnight blue, with a   
tiny but powerful fragrance. Something that made it   
seem like it would be a taste beyond what any human  
had ever experienced, like a piece of the sky itself-  
  
"Here-" she helped Typhune sit up and gave her the   
glass. Typhune didn't even bother to help out Quayke,  
she let the elixir go where it wanted and almost   
choked on it at least five times, but she didn't   
resist it. Quayke laid her back down and shut down   
the lights in the room.  
  
"Leave the door open" Typhune whimpered. "Just a   
little bit-"  
  
Quayke didn't want to leave her alone. Her tone, her  
weeping eyes called for someone to guide her at least  
to her dreams, but there was other things to do. She   
forced herself away from the door and continued down  
the hall to Rayne's room.  
  
Rayne wasn't there. Her door was wide open. It   
figured, if anyone wanted to root through her   
belongings, it wasn't like she'd give a care. But  
this was Rayne's usual off-duty place. She didn't have  
any hobbies at all. Where was she?  
  
Quayke didn't have a clue of where to start. The only  
thing to do was to search each part of the ship. It  
wasn't that big.   
  
The first room she came to was one of the "brain"   
rooms, a place that was blocked off when the ship  
was on the move. Most of the things that made the  
ship work were here, and it didn't look nearly as   
clean or bright as the other rooms.   
  
It didn't seem like a place Rayne would hang out, but  
the place Quayke expected her to be was empty, and she  
didn't want to pass her up. She started through the   
stilled devices, with little light to guide her way. A  
few old lamps, ones that seemed like they belonged in  
a dim restaurant, stuck out from the walls, a couple   
strangled with wispy cobwebs. Quayke was intrigued by  
these cotton-like threads- but they had an essence of  
abandonment and decay. She didn't like it. She shuffled  
down the narrow corridor, distantly hoping that someone  
wouldn't try to start the engines. It wouldn't happen,  
she knew it, but the darkness of the room intensified  
her deepest thoughts, bringing them to the front of her  
attention in unusually lucid images. She started to   
hurry, her sandals now heard clearly across the cold   
floor.  
  
Suddenly, one of her feet stepped down on a different   
surface. Something soft, definetely not right. It was  
accompanied by a startled roar, and Quayke could see  
the furious glow of thin red eyes near one of the lamps.  
Quayke could only let go of a terrified shriek before  
completely freezing up.  
  
In an instant, she found the eyes above her head,   
attached to a giant shadow, at least two feet taller  
than she was. The creature breathed heavy, tensely,  
and Quayke knew it was going to strike. She didn't know  
what it was, all she knew was that it was after her.   
She couldn't even gather enough of her mind to close   
her eyes until she saw a swift movement, something   
headed right towards her face from the side.  
  
The blow struck her with a stunning force, yet it was  
with much less intensity than she expected. It spun her  
halfway around, ending with a tiny rush of wind.  
  
"WHAT in the the name of Kalthre are you doing, Quayke?!"  
  
A human voice. That's all she needed to know. It hadn't  
even occurred to her that an animal had no way of getting  
on the ship. She whirled back around, her breaths as   
heavy as her attacker's, but with relief.  
  
Inpherno paid no attention to that, however. She had no  
idea what had been going through Quayke's mind. "You're   
tryin' to kill me, aren't ya?! Don't you ever watch what  
you're doing?"   
  
She continued yelling with a slew of Phoenocian words   
Quayke didn't recognize, she guessed she probably didn't  
want to. She was still stunned about the first scare that  
her usual terror from Inpherno didn't set in, until she   
tossed a wrench down on the floor and yanked her off her  
feet by the collar.  
  
"You EVER step on me again, I don't care what Enygma says,  
you're as fried as that desert you came from, you get  
me?!"  
  
Quayke nodded slightly, unable to speak or even whisper.   
Inpherno let go, leaving her to drop to the floor in a   
quivering pile of robes. With a few more Phoenocian   
mutters, she picked up the wrench and returned to the   
side of the machine she was working on. Quayke turned   
and ran out of the room.  
  
Right about then she decided to take the mission herself.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Jillian finished singing the song for about the fiftieth   
time, and once again kneeled down by the tree. She was   
done with the berries now, if they were going to stick   
around this long, she might as well save them for another  
day. She picked a leaf off the ground and examined it.  
  
"I can't believe how much time I spent out here. Tomorrow's  
a school day, I should probably do my-" she paused and   
stuck her tongue out, "-MATH homework. Ugh-"  
  
She picked herself off the ground, brushing the dirt off  
her dark, stringy jeans.   
  
Along with it, she heard a similar sound, from behind her.  
A sniffle.  
  
A boy stood there. A little one, couldn't have been more   
than 6 years old. His eyes were wide, a dark, shady  
brown. His hair obviously hadn't been combed in a while  
it's green strands stuck out in spiny tufts off his head.  
He clung nervously to his own gray Quad Cities River   
Bandits t-shirt, one hand occasionally found its was into  
his jeans pocket. She noticed he was wearing a backpack,  
one of those cheap plastic Power Rangers ones that were  
on sale at the end of August.   
  
"Hey" Jillian smiled. "You get lost on your way from   
school?"  
  
That wasn't right, she knew it. Today was Sunday. The  
boy confirmed it by shaking his head slightly.   
  
"Then what are you doing out here by yourself?"  
  
He remained in a stony silence. Jillian sat down on   
the root she had almost tripped over earlier. "C'mere,  
talk to me" she coaxed, patting the branch next to her.  
  
He moved forward, hesitantly, but eventually reached the  
branch. He didn't sit down on it, though, he sat cross-  
legged on the forest floor in front of her.  
  
"What are you doing out here by yourself?" she repeated.  
  
The boy gulped, wiping away some stray tears with one  
stubby hand. "Y-you sing real- re-real pretty" he   
stammered.   
  
"Thank you" Jillian beamed, picking a blackberry off  
the bush nearby and offering it to him. He snapped it up  
like Skyler's golden retriever. "Um, maybe- are you going  
somewhere?"  
  
"I'm not going back home."  
  
"Huh?" her eyes widened. "Not going home? Why not? Where-"  
  
"B-because they took away my c-cat- and they said I   
couldn't have her back."  
  
"Hmm-" Jillian wondered if she could maybe help him out.  
After all, she had read many of her father's books. She  
could at least talk him into going home.  
  
"Were you taking care of the cat?"  
  
"Yes. I spended a lot of time with her and I fed her and  
gave her water and milk and let her sleep whenever she   
wanted and I made sure her fur was nice and soft and-"  
  
"OK, I see."  
  
"But after the mean old guy next door hit her with the  
car, she wouldn't do much, but I still played with her.  
Then one day they took her and said I couldn't play with  
her anymore."  
  
"Oh-" Jillian breathed deeply. "Your cat- OK. So- they   
didn't look mad at you, did they?"  
  
"No" the boy replied in a sniffle.   
  
"You didn't tell me your name yet."  
  
"It's Jay."  
  
"Jay- that's a nice name. The cat slept a lot, didn't she?"  
  
"Yeah, and she wouldn't eat or sleep or meow-"  
  
"I understand. See, I don't think your parents took the   
cat to be mean. You don't want her to feel bad, right?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Even if the only way for her to feel better is if she   
has to leave?"  
  
The boy started, but took the question in serious thought  
for a moment. "If I made kitty stay, that would be mean,  
if she wouldn't feel good."  
  
"That's why they took her. They didn't want her to feel   
bad anymore. You'll miss her, but you know that your cat  
isn't hurting anymore-"  
  
"How touching-"  
  
Quayke appeared from behind a tree, her eyes hidden in the  
shadow of her split bangs. Jillian remembered her, and   
sprang to her feet, but if she let her know she recognized  
her, then she'd know about the Sailor Scout. "Who are-"  
  
In the blink of an eye, Quayke's hand shot into her pocket   
and whipped something at Jillian. It shattered across her  
forehead, something like glass, but soft, and surprisingly,  
with no pain. Now she knew, Sailor Monoceros was needed.  
  
But when she tried to turn, it was almost like there was   
nothing to turn. She could feel everything fine, but there   
was no muscles that could move, like her ears. She melted   
to the ground, her golden hair washing over her face and  
settling there in a loose, whispy cover. She managed   
to squeak out an intelligible question, not expecting a   
response.  
  
She didn't get one. Quayke slowly walked towards her,   
deliberately stalling each step as if to scare Jillian   
into a more frozen state than she already was.   
  
Jay was still there, she could see him backed into a  
bush, his little backpack held out in front of him as if  
it would protect him. She tried to tell him to run, get  
out before Quayke went after him as well, but only got   
out a garbled yell. She knew Quayke was right behind her   
head. The only thing she could do was wait for- whatever  
would happen next.  
  
But nothing happened.  
  
Jillian felt her muscles tense, and rolled back and onto  
her feet, waiting for the next move.  
  
But Quayke's expression had changed drastically- not the   
physical position, it was like she had seen her before,   
but the spirit- just like the exchange between Skyler and  
Sailor Aquila. Her eyes had the melancholy tint of a pine  
tree buried under the pressure of a snowstorm. Jillian  
almost eased up, but quickly reminded herself that letting  
her guard down was how she got caught in the first place.  
  
Quayke stood opposite of her, now without a clue of what  
she was doing. Even if there was a Melody, she couldn't   
take it. There was too much to ignore in this girl's   
future, too much for Quayke to take for her own purpose.  
  
But there had to be a Harmony released, or she was in   
trouble-   
  
Jillian saw Quayke's eyes flicker towards Jay.  
  
But she had to leave. There was a better way to handle  
this. As soon as Quayke turned to jay, she dashed off   
into the woods. "No, don't leave!" Jay screamed.  
  
'I'm not leaving' she thought, concentrating her voice  
towards Orion.   
  
As soon as she was far enough away, she looked to the  
sky. "Orion, you there?"  
  
"I'm flying over the airport" the eagle's voice came   
clearly through her mind, as if he were right next to  
her. "What's up?"  
  
"Oh, good, you're close. There's an attack in progress."  
  
"Should I call Sailor Aquila?"  
  
Jillian thought for a second. "Probably not, she'd take   
too long to get here. I'll handle it."  
  
"OK, good luck."  
  
She grasped the ivory pendant and brought it out from  
under her shirt, then screeched to a halt, facing the   
direction she came from. "UNICORN STAR POWER!"  
  
A brilliant sparkling flash exploded from the moon-white  
stone, wrapping her in streams of light. she could feel  
powerful but gentle energy all around her, through the  
trees and bringing them all together, the sky, the earth,  
all into one dream-like song. In another luminescent   
fuschia flash, she stood in her Sailor uniform.  
  
Quayke didn't even think of the possibility of Jay having  
a Melody Crystal. She let the earth Harmony drift quietly  
to the ground, sighing deeply and hoping no one was   
watching. "Harmony Disrupt" she whispered faintheartedly.  
  
"Stop it!" A strong voice commanded.  
  
The voice had come from above. On a thick branch stood  
a tall Sailor Scout, her arms crossed and glittering   
high heels clicked together in perfect symmetry. Her  
hair gleamed in an invisible light.  
  
"People come to this forest looking for refuge, and   
here you are making all this noise? You won't disturb  
the peace anymore! In the name of unity, I am Sailor   
Monoceros, here to bring harmony back to the world!"  
  
Quayke only watched for a minute. Their equally green  
eyes met and locked, then Quayke vanished in a beam   
of light.   
  
Monoceros turned her attention to the Harmony,   
expecting some huge monster to lunge out at her from  
the crystal like Skyler described. Instead, she found   
a kitten. It hissed at her softly, arching its back  
and digging its tiny claws into the dirt. She couldn't  
help but giggle a bit.   
  
"What's funny?" Orion chirped as he descended from the   
trees.   
  
"Jay's Harmony isn't big enough to do anything yet."  
  
Orion padded over to the kitten. It lashed out at him,  
the needle-width claws gleaming. Instictively he   
fluttered back, then scurried behind Monoceros. "Um,   
maybe you could just use a little of your power? Make  
it sleep?"  
  
"Um, I could try ^_^()"  
  
Monoceros aimed her finger at the kitten. "Umm- Cosmic-  
Soul-- uh, Chime?"  
  
A tiny, thread-like beam, no brighter than a flashlight,  
absorbed into the animal. It gave a little yawn and   
curled into a ball of green fur. Orion, still a bit  
jumpy after the attack, practically pounced on the   
sleeping creature and used his starbeam.   
  
"So this is a Harmony" Monoceros said to herself,   
lifting the crystal with extreme care.   
  
"Yes. I think I know what out enemies are after now.  
Give the Harmony to him so we can go."  
  
She brought it toards Jay. It floated from her palm  
and down into Jay's mouth.   
  
"Why-?" she heard Jay whimper.  
  
He opened his eyes. "Why did she run away? I thought  
she was nice-"  
  
"She went to get me so I could save you" Monoceros   
explained quickly. "She didn't leave you, but she   
knew that she could fight by herself."  
  
"Oh-"  
  
"Why don't I take you home?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Chicken" Rayne scoffed as she sauntered by, heading  
for the door.  
  
"Hold it" Enygma snipped. "We have to find out what   
caused this."  
  
"There's no question about it."  
  
The glanced around, only to find that simple, calm  
statement had come from Inpherno. "Either that   
Sailor Scout was obviously too powerful for Quayke,  
besides the fact she didn't launch a single attack  
while she was there, or we have a traitor on our  
hands."  
  
Quayke's trembling eyes followed her every movement.  
Inpherno appraoched slowly, rather placidly, as if  
she didn't want to stand out (depite that she was   
at least a foot taller than anyone else in the room)  
She stayed and turned her gaze from Enygma to Rayne,  
and to Quayke.  
  
In one swift motion, her hand latched around   
Quayke's neck and yanked her into the air, the other  
hand swiping at the steel chair she had been seated  
in, tearing it from the floor and sending it to the   
opposite wall with a frightening slam.   
  
Quayke clawed frantically at the scorched hand at  
her throat, forgetting she had no fingernails there  
to help her out. She kicked her feet, searching for   
some bit of solid ground to get control of the   
situation, but she was some four feet up. Inpherno's  
tightened vermillion eyes caught her attention from  
the corner of her eyes, and she found herself staring  
into them, the violent red freezing her in a lifeless,  
terror-stricken state.   
  
"Well?" Inpherno hissed, strands of smoke rising into   
the air with her intensifying tone. "WHICH ONE IS IT?!"  
  
"Inpherno!" Enygma barked, with such sharpness and   
force that Quayke felt her grip loosen for a second.  
"If we want this mission to succeed, we can't be   
fighting against each other! Save your energy for   
those who intend to make problems for us. Put her   
down."  
  
Inpherno shot a glare at Quayke, then set her on the  
ground quite roughly- Quayke couldn't handle the   
pressure of her hand, and collapsed like a house of  
cards.   
  
"Quayke said the girl had a strong force within her.  
That is a definite sign- she probably has a Melody.  
We have to find her again, Quayke, we need you to-"  
  
Quayke was too shaken to listen. She stayed right   
where she had been left on the floor, her face   
buried in her robe's crumpled sleeves. At least   
Enygma wouldn't allow Inpherno to come after her  
anymore, for now-  
  
Why had she been taken? She had been on the verge  
of healing her entire planet, which was headed to   
the opposite. She had finally found a place where  
she fit in- where she was essential. Why, of all  
times, did she have to leave?  
  
She felt a hand on her back, and tensed up, thinking  
Enygma had left and Inpherno was standing there. But  
the hand was way too small, too light.  
  
"She's tired" she heard Typhune tell them. "Let her  
rest a bit."  
  
"Where were you?" Inpherno snarled.  
  
Typhune ignored her. "C'mon Quayke, you got a break.  
I think-" she glanced at Enygma, asking for permission,  
though she knew she wouldn't be refused.  
  
Enygma nodded. "Can't work on low energy if you don't   
have to. Besides, so far we still have plenty of time.  
No one else is in the area. Go on-"  
  
Typhune led Quayke back to her room, and turned off   
the lights. She left the door open, just a little bit-  
  
  
~*In Memory of Sparkey*~  
~*1982-2000*~  
~*Emerald Eyes Never Lose Their Spark*~ 


	8. True in Blue

SAILOR MOON HARMONY  
EPISODE 8-TRUE IN BLUE  
  
"Our enemy is after an object, or should I say, objects  
of power- items capable of controlling the world itself.  
They are known as the Melody Crystals. Each of the five  
dominate one of the Old Elements- fire, air, water, earth  
and life. They have been hidden- concealed inside five   
living beings somewhere in this universe. Since the enemy  
has been attacking here, it is in reason that one or more  
of the crystals is inside someone on this planet,   
possibly in this town. This is why they have been   
extracting Harmonies- the essence of a person's sound."  
  
Orion paced around the carpet as he explained, in the  
lowest tone her could manage without garbling his words.  
He could see both girls clearly with the way his eyes   
were set. Skyler watched from her bed, her swaying feet  
curled over her back, her eyes blending chrome with a  
vague shade of intrigue. Jillian, seated on a flimsy   
metal chair by Skyler's desk, had a bit more serious  
expression, pretty much what he expected from her.   
  
"Who are our enemies?" Jillian questioned.  
  
"Not sure yet. I am currently doing research with another  
source. Someone with similar experience as a guardian  
of the Sailor Scouts. There's not much I can do as of yet,  
but we'll find something soon enough. All we have are   
names."  
  
Orion could see Skyler's attention wandering. She was  
actually thinking of something relavent, though- her  
mind was on the past fight, the one where she was   
rescued from the flames in her house by that   
concentrated water blast. The thing that didn't make  
sense in her mind was that even if the fire was gone, the  
smoke could have easily suffocated her. Orion wasn't there  
to bail her out that time. Someone else had to have been  
there. But she wouldn't know now, that day had been   
erased from everyone else's memory. Despite the fact  
that she couldn't do anything to find out more, she   
couldn't let go of the incident.  
  
"Skyler, anything you want to add?" Orion queried with  
an eagle smirk.  
  
"Yeah, actually. Orion, exactly who is Sailor Moon?"  
  
"Sailor-- Moon-?"   
  
Skyler could see she had caught him off-guard with the   
question.  
  
"She's on our side. Don't worry about her, if she visits  
it will be helpful to us."  
  
"I figured that" she grumbled in response.  
  
"It's good you could stay here tonight, Jillian. We   
needed to talk about these things."  
  
"Yeah, but not all night" Skyler burst out. "It's dark  
out now- weekends are supposed to be used to enjoy time  
off from school."  
  
"Yeah, we don't expect you to understand, considering  
you don't have school" Jillian added in a teasing  
manner. "Hey Sky, brought you something you might like-"  
  
She pulled a video case from her backpack. Skyler's   
eyes couldn't have been more lively at the sight of  
it. "You got TOP GUN?!" she squealed, bouncing off the   
bed and onto the floor with a light boom. "That is the  
coolest awesomest movie EVER! We have to go watch it!"  
  
Orion cocked his head, one crystal saffron eye locked   
on the cover picture. "Tom Cruise--? He looks kinda   
like Devin-"  
  
Jillian and Skyler burst into giggles. "DEVIN GYRODE?!"  
  
"Maybe if he were 15 years older, taller- but they  
do have the same kind of hair" Jillian observed.  
  
Skyler raced down the stairs, Jillian right on her   
tail. Orion wanted to follow, but didn't- someone  
could catch him and throw him out- or even worse, make  
the connection between the girls and the Scouts because  
of him. He flapped to the windo and came around to the  
bottom floor, peering in the window.  
  
"Ooh, Top Gun" Skyler's father remarked as he passed by,  
switching off the lights. "They played that movie at   
our airport for weeks when we got a VCR up there."  
  
"Goodnight, Mr. Avis" Jillian called as he left.  
  
Skyler positioned her sleeping bag on the floor, right  
where she could feel like she was into the movie but   
not in Jillian's way. Her eyes gleamed practically   
through the whole movie. There were quite a few things  
she didn't understand and that Jillian was hesitant to  
explain, but when the fighter jets thundered through the  
television sky, she was completely mesmerized, a smile  
of pure delight brighteing her steel-colored eyes. Those  
sharp-winged planes, sailing through the air, the engines  
roaring like a hurricane through the clouds, the speed and  
absolute freedom of a falcon freefalling into the wind-  
she wanted to be there.   
  
She wanted wings of her own.  
  
She barely noticed herself drifting. She was weightless,  
lifting on a pillowy breeze up to a brightening midnight-  
blue sky, littered with gentle, fading stars. A horizon  
was appearing, a dreamy landscape below her, full of ridges  
and natural columns of an ideal shade of bronze. Everything  
came into a clear view now, so sharp, so lucid, so-   
infinite.   
  
A tiny, twinkling flash of light drew her attention to the  
horizon again. Golden light shimmered down the edge,   
pouring into the immense valley and instantly staining the  
dark blue of the lower atmosphere with the deepest crimson,  
the most breathtaking violet she had ever seen or never even  
thought to imagine. She felt herself melting into a stunned  
silence, drifting down to a cliff's edge to watch this   
fantastic play of color.  
  
And though she had never been to anyplace remotely like this,  
she knew she had seen it before.   
  
"Soara-"  
  
Skyler's lungs suddenly expanded and flooded with oxygen,  
making her realize she had literally had her breath taken  
away. The whisper had come from behind her. She whirled   
around.  
  
There, behind her, was the strangest-looking building she   
had ever seen. Some kind of shrine or- a castle. That was   
it. She didn't know how she knew, but she was certain of  
it. She only wished she could make out the hazy details  
behind that intensely illuminated front door.  
  
"SOARA!"  
  
The holler boomed through the canyons, a million echoes  
rising from each pillar. That voice was so incredibly   
powerful that Skyler lost her breath again.   
  
Then she remembered. The dream. Why had the setting changed?  
  
Light overtook her, pulling her away from the sunrise in   
its warm grasp.   
  
"Someday, you will understand-"  
  
She could see a bit of the figure now. Long strands of  
hair, thin bangs, lightly shading narrow, all-knowing  
eyes. But the light claimed her again-  
  
It was sunlight, reflecting off the full-length mirror in  
the dining room. She sat up. Jillian had fallen asleep in  
a strangely balanced position, and Orion was nowhere in sight.  
Skyler got up and went to the kitchen.  
  
It looked to be another unusually warm morning. September was  
supposed to be the time when everything was cooling off. It  
was as if they had skipped a month on the calendar. Turbo   
raced around the yard, sending the chickens scurrying before   
her father came chasing after him. Skyler giggled, loud enough  
to stir Jillian from her sleep.  
  
"Hey" she called, her voice muffled with lingering sleep. "What's  
going on?"  
  
"Aw, nothing-" Skyler came back into the family room.  
  
"Know what? Me and Sara are going to that new waterpark in Aledo.  
You want to go?"  
  
"What new waterpark?"  
  
The girls went up to Jillian's room to help her gather her things.  
Orion was perched on the sill. His feathers were somewhat scruffed   
up, his glassy eyes glinting with annoyance. "What is it?"  
  
"The dog" Orion growled.  
  
Now Skyler burst out laughing. Orion turned away, the feathers   
bristling. "Enough. What are you two doing today?"  
  
"Wellllll- I was asking Skyler if she wanted to come to Aledo's  
new waterpark today."  
  
Skyler stared at Jillian, who returned an expectant look. She didn't  
want to disappoint Jillian, but in all honesty, she didn't want to go.  
It was just something about all that rushing water-  
  
Jillian could sense this. She could see indecision easily, possibly   
a little fear in Skyler's expression. But she wasn't going to give up  
that easy this time. "C'mon, Sky. I brought you Top Gun" she added   
with a widening grin.  
  
"Actually, I think you'd better go with Jillian" Orion advised.  
  
"Huh? Why?"  
  
"Well, I've been hearing people say that someone just disappeared  
there."  
  
Skyler's eyes widened a bit, but Jillian didn't seem the least bit   
surprised. "Sorry to say, Orion, but in cities things like that   
happen a lot."  
  
Orion sighed and shook his head. It appeared that he had already taken  
this into account. "Well, consider this. Why would they open a waterpark  
at the end of the summer instead of the beginning? If they had just   
finished it, I'd assume they'd wait for next summer."  
  
"You know, you're right" Skyler said, perking up instantly. "I would  
have thought that, too-"  
  
"So, there is reasonable enough evidence for us to investigate."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Skyler's smile was a little too unenthusiastic for the other two. But  
they took the meaning of her words to their advantage. "Great" Jillian  
beamed. "We'll come pick you up at noon, 'K? See ya then!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Quite a few eyes were drawn to the rose-haired teenager walking by the  
lap-swimming pool. Her swimsuit, a simple lavender one-piece, was   
nothing really to stare at. Neither were the smoothed-out sunglasses  
shielding her eyes. She approached a girl, apparently one of her friends,  
who was also wearing sunglasses despite being in the shade.  
  
"Rayne" Enygma muttered, pulling off the glasses. "What are you doing   
out in the open like this?"  
  
"Hey, you don't expect me to just sit back behind the ticket booths, do   
you? I wanna play with the water a little bit. C'mon, that wave pool's  
tamer than a paper clip." Rayne tossed her hair back, shimmering a   
strong azure with the water it had collected.  
  
"Nothing suspicious" Enygma warned. "You'll tip off these people. Or worse  
yet, the Sailor Scouts."  
  
"They're all in that tiny place where you and Quayke think the Earth   
Melody is. Speaking of which, why are we searching here if you know   
where one is?"  
  
"That's just one. It would be natural that the water Melody carrier would  
be attracted to water, and this is one of the biggest waterparks around.  
Just wait until it's the right time, then you can act."  
  
Enygma sauntered away, trying to appear as tranquil as the day. Rayne   
scowled a bit as she left. She had to stay here, all this time, by herself?  
It wasn't fair to leav her with such a huge operation.  
  
'What are you complaining about?!' she scolded herself. 'You're always   
saying there's never a challenge for you-'  
  
On the opposite side, a large brown van pulled up, and a group of girls  
all crowded out to the concrete, among them Jillian and Skyler. Skyler   
squinted in surprise. "It got hot-" she groaned, groping through her  
bag for some sunglasses.  
  
"The water'll chill you out pretty good" Jillian assured her as the   
group stepped up in the ticket line. "Wait till we get to the waterslides-"  
  
Skyler glanced over at the twisting slide pipes up a hill border of the   
park. The churning water, glistening under the burning sun, did reach   
her as extremely inviting.  
  
Then she caught sight of a soaring silhouette, just meters above the slide.  
She closed a fist and hoped it was what she thought. "Orion, you there?"  
  
To her relief, the shadow perched at the top, and Orion's response came  
back loud and clear. "Yep, I'm watching you."  
  
"Hey, Sky!"  
  
The yell had come from close by. Skyler couldn't locate it through the   
crowds, but Jillian must have because she started waving. "Hey Blue!"  
  
"Devin's here?" Skyler queried, scanning the pool edge.  
  
She caught sight of him jogging towards them. It didn't seem like he  
had gotten into the water yet, his Bears t-shirt was pretty dry and  
dusty. He had a hat today, probably a good thing for him.   
  
"Why are you following us?" Skyler demanded playfully.  
  
"I'm always here first" Devin pointed out. "I was in line for the go-  
karts, but they stopped to gas up so I came back here. You wanna race   
me?"  
  
An opportunity to get away from the water. Skyler was silently forever  
grateful to him that moment. "Yeah! It might not be fair, though" she   
added with a grin. "After all, I've already had a taste of racing."  
  
"Please" Devin laughed as they walked off. "You have no idea what you're   
up against-"  
  
"Skyler! Take your wristband ticket thingy!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
"They don't let you take food into the park" Skyler said in disbelief.  
"Well, I guess it makes sense."  
  
Fortunetely for all the hungry park visitors, there was a park nearby  
with picnic tables. The group set up for lunch, while Devin had stayed  
back to do a little swimming. He claimed he needed a little more warm-up  
before he could really be a challenge to Skyler on the go-karts. However,  
Jillian had surprised both of them the first race by speeding around the   
outside and lapping everyone at least once.  
  
Sara and the others went off to get the cooler, leaving Jillian and   
Skyler by themselves at the table. There was a minute of silence.  
  
"I'm gonna get you" Skyler said at last, turning an eye back to the   
go-kart track.  
  
"Face it, Sky. You may be able to beat Tom Cruise back there-"  
  
The thought was interrupted by a sudden burst of giggles from the two  
girls. "You just had to say that-"  
  
After a few minutes, Jillian's expression turned a little bit more   
serious. Her intuitive green eyes boared into Skyler's, searching for  
something she couldn't understand. "We haven't been in the water yet  
today" she said softly.  
  
"Well, um-" Skyler turned away nervously. "I just don't like water   
that much-"  
  
"Has it always been that way?"  
  
The question had never occured to Skyler before. Now that she thought  
about it, she had always spent hours at the local pool in the previous  
summers. She relayed this to Jillian, who's expression took on some  
concern.  
  
"You said your brother drowned, right?"  
  
"We don't know for sure. They say-- they say he might be-"  
  
Her voice cracked beyond her control. Jillian closed her eyes, somewhat  
regretful that she had upset her friend, but glad that they were getting  
somewhere. "If you want my opinion, I think you're associating that   
incident with swimming. And if you want my advice, I think you should  
conquer that fear right away so you don't have to deal with it."  
  
Skyler rested her head on one hand. Jillian was trying to help, that was  
all. And since her dad was a psychiatrist, she would probably know a little  
bit about these things.  
  
"All right" she agreed, almost in a whimper.  
  
Jillian decided to change the subject before things got too emotional for  
Skyler. "Hey, where are those guys? I thought they-"  
  
"Shh-" Skyler's eyes went from somber to vigilant.  
  
They immediately noticed something out of place. No echoing screams from  
kids ending their waterslide ride, no chatter of the sunbathers near the  
fence, no scratchy calls of lifeguard megaphones. A silence only broken  
by the wind and an occasionally audible strain of running water. The girls  
rose up and dashed to the front gate.  
  
No one was there.  
  
"I think the Scouts better take a look-"  
  
The girls ran around the fence corner.  
  
"UNICORN STAR POWER!"  
"EAGLE STAR POWER!"  
  
Rayne's eyes were drawn to peculiar flashes of light, tendrils of blue and  
pink reaching up from the ground. But before she could investigate, they   
had disappeared, and two figures stood at the foot of the wavepool where  
she was watching.  
  
"Hey you! On the generator!"  
  
"Hey, this was a nice day to swim, but I don't think that's what you brought  
people here for. So were shutting down this operation! In the name of freedom,  
I am Sailor Aquila!"  
  
"In the name of unity, I am Sailor Monoceros!"  
  
"Sailor Scouts, here to bring harmony back to the world!"  
  
"Perfect timing" Rayne growled. "As usual. Well, at least I'm not outnumbered. Tydal-"  
  
A huge, glowing lizard leapt up from behind the fence around the generator. Rayne  
smiled slightly. "OK, I'm ready for you. Let's see what happens in a fair fight."  
  
Sailor Aquila started off, leaping into the air and hovering with her sandal  
wings. "RAZOR FEATHER FLURRY!"  
  
Both targets dodged away, springing off in different directions, although Rayne   
herself just barely missed the feathers.  
  
"COSMIC SOUL MELODY!"  
  
The energy blast almost caught Rayne the other way. She turned and dove into the deep  
end of the wave pool.  
  
"Hey!" Aquila yelled, then turned her attention to the lizard.   
  
It stood on the water, staring down at Rayne with it's huge, glazed eyes.  
  
Suddenly a water tornado shot up, right at Aquila, knocking her out of the sky. She  
couldn't catch any air with the short wings, and plummeted into the deep end.  
  
"Aquila! Hey, Aquila, you all right?"  
  
Monoceros lost track of her as the wavepool started to churn, kicking up waves  
that she knew weren't normal for the park. She backed away from the edge-  
  
-right into a set of laser restraints.  
  
"Hey!" she hollered, turning her head.   
  
Typhune giggled as she flipped in front of Sailor Monoceros. "Haha, you can't  
move" she teased in a singsong voice. "Neither can the birdie down there-"  
  
Aquila, she could see, was trying hard to get to the surface, but the massive   
waves made a whirlpool that only let her swim in a circle. "Orion" Monoceros  
called. "Orion?! Where are you? We need backup!"  
  
A fuzzy voice came through, unintelligible yelling. Monceros glared at Typhune,  
then at Rayne. "Some fair fight-"  
  
"Whatever" Rayne tossed her hair. "Exterminators don't fight fair."  
  
"No, but I can fix that" an unfamiliar voice proclaimed.  
  
The two Eclipzes glance up. On the top of a water slide nearby-  
  
A boy stood. He seemed about the Scouts' age, maybe a little bit older,  
wearing a blue, water-shaped outfit. He had spiky, brilliant blue hair,  
and in one semi-gloved hand, he held a tri-bladed boomerang.   
  
"OK" Rayne seemed more startled by this new arrival than annoyed. "So who  
are you?"  
  
"You don't need to know."  
  
In the blink of an eye he had hurled the boomerang towards Rayne. She barely  
managed to duck out of the way, but the boomerang kept going and slashed open  
the restraints on Monoceros. She turned towards the wild wavepool.  
  
"There's another Scout in there!" she shouted to boy. "Can you swim?"  
  
"I've got a better idea!" he replied.   
  
He touched the pool with one finger. In an instant, it was as if the pool  
was shut off. Aquila surfaced, gasping for breath as she dragged herself   
over to the shallow end.  
  
Typhune stomped her feet. "That's not fair!" she cried.  
  
"Quit whining, let's just go!" Rayne yelled, as a beam of light came down and   
took her up.  
  
The lizard panicked, it's leaders leaving without giving in instructions.   
Monoceros walked over to it. "COSMIC SOUL MELODY!"  
  
A blue water harmony remained. Near the generator, they found a lifeguard,  
who the boy told them to give it back to.  
  
"Who are you?" Aquila questioned as the boy turned to leave.  
  
"Don't I get a thank you?" he whimpered, his shaded eyes turning puppydog-like.  
  
Aquila giggled. "Yeah, thanx."  
  
"Really. Jerks" Monoceros muttered. "I woulda showed them if they hadn't decided  
to odd the odds."  
  
"You can call me Delphi Blade" he called from his position from the waterslide.   
He jumped down and ran off.  
  
"Delphi Blade?" the girls repeated in unison.  
  
Finally, Orion caught up, just in time to see Delphi Blade disappear. "Huh? Who  
was that? You didn't let the enemy get away, did you?"  
  
"No. But I don't think that's the last we'll see of him."  
  
  
  
  



	9. Rising Flame

SAILOR MOON HARMONY  
EPISODE 9-RISING FLAME  
  
*~Written by Whirlwynd, Jen, and Spin~*  
  
Something had happened-  
  
Stars littered her clearing vision. She seen them before, but she hadn't quite grasped the nature  
of her surroundings then- they were stars all right, tinsel against a neverending darkness. It  
was quite belittling. Each of those stars glimmering, each playing out their distant stories that  
she would never know in this lifetime. But this was only a portion of her train of thought. She   
was lost somewhere in this vast, sparkling yet barren plane, drifting along an unexpected breeze-  
filling her with an unsettling feeling that coursed through her veins with every echoing beat of her  
heart. It was too much, too silent. She struggled in this mysterious paralysis she was caught in  
to find something, anything, familiar and secure, but with little result. Her thoughts screamed by  
her ears as if someone could actually hear them. Cold sweat spiked under her skin. She had   
never felt like this before, ever. She wouldn't have let it happen.  
  
But something had happened here. Something she couldn't do anything about. That, she realized,  
was the source of this heart-wrenching anxiety. But what was it? Who? Where had it begun?   
Where was she? Questions passed by like light beams.   
  
Finally, some clue. Flames, rich, cloud-like fire rolled through space nearby, blurring the stars  
around it's path. She watched the shimmering inferno with fascination. Heated tendrils curled   
into the night, blooming in crimson a gold tufts as if it were feeding on the nothingness. But  
still, she couldn't shake that unknown terror. If it weren't for this light show appearing with   
such glittering complexity, the chaos would have completely taken over her mind.  
  
A sudden rush of debris blew past her, eeirily silent for the force that came with it. And as it   
hurtled out into the eternal night, she felt her normally bright eyes darkening to match, all  
warmth gone despite the flames.   
  
Something had happened. Something so horrifying that the fear was replaced by overwhelming  
rage. Her fists clenched, trembling as her nails dug deeply into the skin. But it was accompanied  
by total helplessness, the same she had felt in that emotionless display of space- tears melted  
from her eyes. She wanted to scream, she wanted to tear apart something- whoever put her in  
here. Her lungs tensed, she couldn't breathe- she didn't care. She wanted out, now-  
  
Everything calmed.  
  
"It is time. The start of your mission is at hand."  
  
The voice plucked her from the unbearable silence into a pocket of energy. The last of her tears  
fell away, and her eyes once again glowed with determination. Something could be done, after  
all. This fear was unfounded, it was not the end. There was a path in front of her, a beckoning   
bridge over the silence-  
  
Darkness swept her vision again, but this time it was comforting, warm, close.  
  
She dragged herself from her bed, over to the open window. Her mind was torn by the twisting  
emotion brought on by that dream- but it all led only to intrigue. The setting moon was an   
enchanting bronze plate against the glassy sky, its rays skimming the top of thick, leathery  
cornstalk leaves. The stars, still as clear as they were in her dream, lifted her spirit with their  
tiny yet dazzling light. She was here, on Earth, her home.   
  
Something had happened, and it was a beginning.  
  
But to what?  
  
"My mission-" she whispered. Her thick yet floating words rolled like piano music. A lazy   
summer-like breeze, sifting a fresh, wheaty scent into her heavy hair.   
  
"What could be?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
"He just runs off. And you only know his name?"  
  
Another Scout meeting was taking place, this time at the high school football field. Sunday   
practice was over by now, and though there was still a little game going on downfield, the   
players were too into the game to notice Skyler and Jillian talking to an eagle perched on a   
crossbar under the bleachers.  
  
"Delphi Blade. That's what he said his name was. What does that mean?" Skyler wondered,  
twirling a strand of hair restlessly. She had hoped she could at least play a game of softball  
today. She stared wistfully out at the field down the hill, but was snapped back into the now  
by Orion' irritated flapping.   
  
"Isn't Delphi a Greek letter--?" Jillian thought out loud. "But he could control the water by   
touching it. What does that have to do with that letter."  
  
"You're thinking of Delta."  
  
"Doesn't Ever Leave The Airport" Skyler added airily.   
  
Orion shifted on the bar, bristling his feathers uncomfortably. This was not ideal weather for  
someone with a heavy coat like this- but no one could do anything about it, so he didn't   
complain and kept his focus on the important things. He hadn't heard anything about this new  
guy either, which was what worried Skyler and Jillian the most. But at least Orion had some  
theories. "Perhaps his name comes from Delphinus, the dolphin constellation."  
  
"Maybe."  
  
Skyler hopped from the bleachers, tying on her rollerblades. "I'm going to the airport" she   
announced, grinning. "Maybe we can find something about that constellation there."  
  
The other two exchanged knowing glances. Skyler wasn't going down there to research- but  
Orion didn't protest. There could be valuable information up there, even if Skyler wasn't going  
to look for it. They didn't have another lead right then-  
  
Skyler was beginning to feel what Orion felt before- this weather, now in October, was way   
above the average. October was the harvest month, so everyone would be working much  
harder than normal. That meant no more flying, probably not until spring. Skyler wasn't   
going to let this opportunity go by. It was hot, it was humid- but the sky was clear, still,  
and perfect for flying.   
  
Everyone was enjoying the weather, at least. The town square was especially cheerful, still  
green, the oaks losing a few faded leaves, but not many. The fountain, a symmetrical fish  
sculpture surrounded by a granite pool, was still running quietly like it had done all season.  
Adrian always said it reminded him of Pisces. He would be there evey day in the summer,   
reading some old textbook he had bought on one of his short trips to Aledo, eating a sandwich  
off a brown paper bag. Her mind floated back to the beginning of the summer, the beginning of  
the softball season and summer break, the beginning of this perfect weather- the beginning  
of the end of a normal life. She remembered when she had no idea, not a clue about this  
Sailor Scout stuff. It wasn't like it was a huge worry to her, but it sure wasn't the same.  
  
Maybe it was because Oriole wasn't around-  
  
She stared back at the memory-pulling square as she glided by the apartment complex.  
  
Music reached her ears. She perked up at the sound. The singer's voice was low, but feminine,  
with a quality of strength woven into it. She located the source.  
  
A girl knelt on the ground nearby, her forest green eyes occupied by some long boards she was  
stacking in front of her. The eyes were almost the same color as Jillian's, but they held a little  
more youth and a lot more energy. Her ruby-colored hair spilled around her, down to her waist,  
except a portion tied up in a braid. She wore red, fingerless gloves to protect her hands from  
the boards which she was now wrapping with a thick plastic band. The rest of her clothes, a  
yellow t-shirt, jeans, and hiking boots, were pretty worn from the work she had probably been  
doing all afternoon.   
  
Then, to Skyler's amazement, she lifted the boards onto one shoulder and carried them across   
drive. The boards looked way too heavy for someone her size, but she handled them like they   
were straws. She returned empty-handed, starting the song over as she went back to the next  
jumble of boards. Skyler listened-  
  
~I'll tell you a story~  
~Of a day long ago~  
~A day I don't recall I've been to~  
~Don't need to be worried~  
~It's all just for show~  
~Just something I like to get into, yeah~  
~Hey, sometimes days are hard~  
~So it's nice to have an escape~  
~It's a sunny day, and the birds are singin our story~  
  
~I'll tell you a story~   
~Of a girl that I knew~  
~Who was searching for a different life~  
~She packed all her bags up~  
~Said hello to the crew, but~  
~They said there was no way they could fly, so she says~  
~Hey, sometimes days are hard~  
~So it's nice to have an escape~  
~It's a windy day, but that won't stop me now~  
  
~I'll tell you a story~  
~Of the journey she found~  
~A world beyond imagination~  
~She races by anyway~  
~Always trying to gain ground~  
~From the thunder tryin to break her concentration, she says~  
~Hey, sometimes days are hard~  
~But there's no time for a breal~  
~It's a rainy day, and that's rest enough for me~  
  
~So the end of this story~  
~Of a day long ago~  
~Is something no one knows~  
~It's nothing to think about~  
~Just something to show~  
~And I guess it's time for me to go~  
~Hey, sometimes days are hard~  
~So it's nice to have an escape~  
~It's sunset~  
~I hope I'll see you again~  
  
Her eyes raised to Skyler, startling her- it seemed she had known she was there for a while. "Are   
you lost, kid?" she called. "You've been standin' there for the past five minutes."  
  
She had noticed. Skyler's face glowed a light pink. "Um, no ^^() It's just- um, well- where did you   
hear that song?"   
  
The question was a valid excuse. The girl smiled. "Down in Somerset. The workers there were   
always singin' it."  
  
"You're a construction worker?" Skyler queried.   
  
She chuckled heartily. Her words were tinged with a Somerset accent. "Technically, no. But I help  
my folks a lot. They got this job out here, no one knows why anyone wants a apartment building  
way out here, but whoever's asking for it's shelling out a lotta green. Mom said it'd be good to get  
some country air. See, I'm only fourteen. In Somerset you have to be fifteen to get a real job. We're  
just finishing up, there's already people in there. I guess you live somewhere around here."  
  
"Yeah, our house just past the south side of town. I'm Skyler Avis."  
  
"Hi. I'm Cassie Mitchell. Just call me Cass. I've got some work to do yet, so I'll see you at the school  
tomorrow. Don't suppose you're in my grade-?" she guessed as she slung another stack of boards  
over her head.   
  
"Sixth grade."  
  
Cassie blinked in surprise. "Sixth? You skipped ahead?"  
  
Skyler's expression reflected the shock. "No, I'm twelve."  
  
"Dang! I'd swear you were ten at the most. But I guess you're tall enough to be twelve."  
  
She hauled the load away. As soon as she was out of sight, Jillian and Orion rushed up, Jillian   
practically dragging Skyler away. They got out of the town before they finally stopped and let   
Skyler go. "What's the big idea?!" she hollered, running a few yards away and turning back to look  
at them.   
  
Orion soared towards her, but that only made the skittish brunette back further away. Her wary eyes  
watched every detail down to his ruffling feathers. He landed in the grass, peering over the long,   
yellowed blades with matching eyes. "Skyler, hold on a sec!" Jillian yelled.   
  
She stayed still, but her feet were poised and ready to take off. Orion stepped up as close as he   
could without setting her off. "Sky, don't you think there was something odd about that girl?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Now Skyler ran closer, fierce suspicion melting into curiousity. "What do you mean?"  
  
"She looks like Inpherno" Jillian whispered.   
  
"What?! No way!" Skyler exclaimed. "She does not!"  
  
Orion's eyes sparked in the sunlight. "There is no way a girl of that size can lift that much weight on  
her own. And I could feel strange energy around her. Fire energy. Way too much for a normal  
human."  
  
Skyler bit her lower lip, her eyes showing upset quite clearly. She had seen Cassie a totally   
different way, and she wasn't going to give up that view. She struggled for a counterpoint, shooting  
out every one she captured in her mind. "Inpherno has red eyes. Cassie has green."  
  
"People like that have abilities to change appearance" Orion informed.  
  
"Contacts" Jillian added.  
  
"Yeah, but why just the eyes? And really, what danger is it just talking to her while we're in regular   
form? She doesn't know who the Scouts are. And if they're going to attack someone, it might as   
well be someone who can fight back."  
  
Jillian gazed back at the apartments. "She's got a point there."  
  
Orion sighed. "Be careful then. I'll be watching."  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
"SOARA!"  
  
She whirled. As hard as she tried, she couldn't do anything else. All the same questions tumbled  
through her mind, but all were trapped. Who was this figure leaning over her? Why did they hide?  
Why couldn't she move? It was her dream, after all. She should be able to grab some level of control.  
  
"Someday you will understand-"  
  
Immense sorrow flowed through her, so forcefully she curled into a ball. Tears trickled down her   
strained face, the background blurring against the light she knew was coming. "What is this?!" her   
mind cried out, but no physical words escaped. She felt something touch her shoulder, and though  
it was gentle, soothing, she felt surprigingly angry at it. She might have slapped it away if she   
knew what it was.   
  
"Soara" the delicate voice pleaded. "Soara-"  
  
"SKYLER!"  
  
Skyler sprange from her bed, landing on the floor in a groggy sprawl. "What, Orion?" she groaned, her   
voice cracking.   
  
"What's wrong?" Orion questioned, apparenly alarmed.   
  
She blinked at the worry in his voice and rubbed her sleepy eyes. They were damp. She slowly   
turned her hand away and stared at it, then pulled herself to her dresser mirror. A pale, tear-  
streaked face greeted her. Her eyes were most disturbing, two foggy, dark holes in the universe.   
She sniffled, turning to her alarm clock. "I'm fine" she told him at last.  
  
"No you're not" Orion insisted. "Your dream. Tell me NOW."  
  
She almost gave in to his strict tone. She knew, though, that if she told him, she'd start crying again,  
even if it was just a dream. She simply ignored him, reaching into her birds' cage and pressing one   
finger by Sora's feet. Sora climbed onto it, and she lifted the bird out of the cage and up to her face.   
  
"What do they want with you-?" Skyler whispered.   
  
Sora chirped softly, almost sympathetically, and ran Skyler's hair through her beak. "Sora knows  
something's wrong" Orion mumbled, but he didn't pursue it any longer. He could sense she was  
a bit fragile at the moment.  
  
She left for school quicker than she ever had that morning. She felt bad, leaving Orion in the dark   
like that, but for some reason she just didn't want to tell anyone. She hoped she wouldn't have that  
doleful expression as when she got to class.   
  
It seemed that it had cleared when she showed up. Cassie didn't act a bit concerned as she waved  
across the schoolground. "Hey, Sky!" she called cheerfully.  
  
"Hi!"   
  
"Um-" Cassie started as they headed for the stairs. "Maybe you can tell me where my classroom  
is?"   
  
Skyler giggled. "It shouldn't be that hard. Hey, Devin!"  
  
Blue passed them going out. "I forgot my lunch-" he told her, then turned his attention to Cassie.  
"Who are you?"  
  
"I'm Cassie" she introduced, holding out her hand. "You are-?"  
  
"Devin" he shook the hand. "Call me Blue."  
  
Suddenly they both froze, their startled eyes gradually narrowing as they stared at each other. There was   
tenseness, not anxiety, but something else, building between them. Skyler's gaze switched   
rapidly between them. No one else seemed to notice this frozen state, they walked on up the steps  
as if the two were just statues. "Hey guys-" Skyler started.  
  
Suddenly Cassie's eyes flickered angrily. Her other hand flew to his wrist and yanked him clear   
off the ground. He landed face down on the bottom of the stairs, just barely catching himself in   
time to keep his face from the concrete. He got up quickly, backing away before throwing a long  
roundhouse kick. It caught Cassie square in the face. A crowd gathered around them, and Skyler  
squeezed through.   
  
She wanted to stop them, but she couldn't even get a hand in without it getting it smacked off. She  
did admit, though, this fight was interesting to watch. Both Cassie and Devin fought with skill far   
beyond their years. Her movements rolled with unpredictable flare- like the fire energy Orion had  
been talking about. And Devin wasn't about to let her steal the show. His eyes- and hands, met   
every advance.   
  
What had happened? It had been a peaceful meeting. There was something odd here--  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I don't like this" Orion mumbled through the communicator. "It's confusing. There's an enemy here,  
I know it."  
  
"I don't like it either" Skyler confessed, but she wished he'd stop talking about it. Did she believe   
that Cassie was Inpherno? Or someone from the Eclipze's side?  
  
She couldn't take that for an answer. But she couldn't push it away. It made too much sense.  
  
Once again, she was passing through the town square, on her way to the airport. Another perfect  
day, weather-wise. She knew Uncle Lance was down by the planes, he'd be working today. Maybe  
a visit would take her mind off this morning.  
  
It would have if she hadn't gone in that direction.  
  
"Cassie?!"  
  
She stopped short. "Hey, Sky" Cassie replied placidly from the park bench.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Three day suspension. Typical."  
  
Skyler's eyes widened at her calm tone. "Didn't you parents get mad?"  
  
"No, course not. Why would they?" Momentary puzzlement crossed Cassie's face. "Oh, that's right,  
I forgot. My parents are different."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"You've lived in this place all your life, haven't you?" she leaned back as Skyler sat down next to her.  
"Yeah. See, you'd have no idea what it was like back in Somerset. If you wanted to make it  
through the day, you had to stand strong. My parents have always told me that, but it took  
a few broken bones and an awful lot of bruises and stuff for me to learn. I wasn't gonna take  
nothin' from nobody, and Mom and Dad are proud of me for that. That's why they weren't mad  
when I told them what that little punk started."  
  
"But wait. What did he do?"  
  
"You didn't see? He came after me!" Now Cassie had the wide eyes. "How could you not  
see that?"  
  
Skyler shook her head. "No. You guys just stood there for like a minute. Then all the   
sudden you started fighting."  
  
Cassie crossed her arms, staring at the grass. "Hmph. You know, I do feel kinda bad about   
the kid. Even if he did start it" she added under her breath. "You know, I got the feeling he's  
not a very lucky guy."  
  
"Really? What makes you think that?"  
  
"Just something. I wouldn't expect you to understand."  
  
Without another word, she sauntered off across the square and down the street. Skyler watched   
her, somewhat speechless. She got off without anything?  
  
A scream jerked her from her semi-trance. She whirled around.  
  
Inpherno was across the square, in a ring of fleeing pedestrians, one locked in her stiff grasp.   
"Orion!" she hissed. "We got a problem-"  
  
The scream had reached Cassie's ears. It didn't strike her as a normal one, like she had heard  
from playing children all day- she immediately turned and ran back.   
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
~Golden stars, silver moon~  
~The past I will never forget~  
~My true form will rise up soon~  
~And that's something you'll regret~  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Her heavy footfalls fell short. "What was that rhyme?" she thought out loud, placing one hand   
on her forehead. "Am I going nuts?"  
  
Through her loosely closed fingers she saw something struggle.  
  
"Quit fighting, you're wasting your energy" Inpherno growled, her burning, raspy voice echoing  
through the now empty square.   
  
"HEY!" someone shouted nearby.  
  
Her threatening eyes flickered to the fish fountain.   
  
"Don't you think Mondays are tough enough on people without you chasing them around? In  
the name of freedom, I am Sailor Aquila, here to bring harmony back to the world!"  
  
Cassie stared at the source of the corny challenge. "Sailor-- Aquila?  
  
She was dressed in a funny-looking blue and silver outfit, that vaguely reminded her of something   
a sailor would wear on a ship out to sea. That would explain the name--  
  
The strangest feeling swept over her. She felt a sudden rush of heat, but she kept her attention   
on the girl calling herself Sailor Aquila. She looked very familiar-  
  
"You again?! When will you learn?! Humph! Why don't you use those fancy wings on your stupid shoes to   
fly away and leave me alone!" Inpherno cried, impatiently.  
  
Sailor Aquila laughed. It was a youthful laugh. Almost childish, even. "Like I'd leave my town in   
the hands of YOU? As if! I'm here to stay! Drop that Harmony right now!" she ordered.  
  
Inpherno gave a short chuckle, but didn't let go. But before she could act, Aquila's eyes caught   
something red, orange, and yellow. She glanced at it out of the corner of her eyes. Cassie?! Yes!   
It WAS Cassie! Aquila turned her full attention to her, realizing that she was- burning?! What in the   
world-  
  
Cassie could feel the burning heat now, fueled by frantic but clear thoughts-- who was this woman,   
attacking innocent people? She barely noticed the flames. It should've been unbearable, but it was   
almost- natural? Memories started flooding into her mind. Her strange vision now made sense. Her   
destiny. Her mission- she found the words.  
  
"PHOENIX STAR POWER!" she cried suddenly.  
  
She felt the flames cover her entire body, the heat melding inside her with that same energy she  
had felt at the end of her dream. She closed her eyes, and she let herself swirl around   
in the flames. This was her chance to do something.  
  
Moments later, she opened her eyes. Looking down at herself, she saw a uniform very similar to  
Sailor Aquila's. The sailor collar, skirt, and short, high-heeled boots were colored a magma red, the  
front bow a brilliant yellow, the back with long, flaming tails.  
  
Aquila stared in disbelief. She rubbed her eyes. Yes, she was still there. She blinked, stunned.   
Cassie was- a scout?!  
  
The pain came out of nowhere. It was like a billion scolding hot needles were being jabbed into her   
side. It was so much more that she ever felt before, she thought right away she would die. With a agonized,   
almost animal-like screech, she looked around for the source. There was Enygma, standing there almost 10   
meters away from her, that futuristic laser gun clasped between her hands. She laughed hysterically as she   
dropped it to her side. "I got you this time" she proclaimed.  
  
The seething pain only seemed to grow deeper with each passing moment. Luckily, Enygma had terrible aim   
this time, and had only skimmed the right side of her waist. Still, the pain was unbearable.   
  
She choked back a breath.   
  
She ran her clean white glove over her side, and forced herself to look at it. It was covered in   
blood. Real blood. And this wasn't just a rollerblade cut-  
  
'I've been hit...'  
  
The realization struck her like a load of bricks. She had suspected from the beginning that this Scout   
stuff could be trouble, but this was even more than that fire. She felt the world spinning beneath her,   
along with the malicious laughter of Enygma. Inpherno glanced at her, annoyed, but at least she had gotten   
something done.  
  
Sailor Pheonix stared at the scene in shock. Or was it rage? Both feelings swept over her. What had she   
gotten herself into? She had to do something- 'I gotta help, but there's two of 'em! I barely know what   
I'm doin here! But I can't let her die! What am I supposed to do?!'  
  
Sailor Pheonix glanced back and forth from Inpherno to Enygma. The square was silent, with exception   
to Enygma's laughter.   
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"  
  
Sailor Pheonix's head jerked to the side at the scream. It was Inpherno. She was holding her bleeding   
shoulder, her eyes aflame and searching the grounds.  
  
Before she could wonder how this happened, a voice rang out through the nearly empty square.  
  
"This is gathering place for peace, not trash! Yeah, that's you two. Get out, or face the tide-- Delphi   
Blade is on the scene!"  
  
The sapphire-haired fighted dropped from a tree, landing neatly on the fish statues just above the fallen   
Aquila. Inpherno growled, fumbling with the tri-blade and tossing it to the ground and Enygma chuckled.  
  
'They seem to like laughing--' Pheonix thought.  
  
Inpherno leapt up into the air, her trench coat flapping wildly, and landed in front of Delphi Blade,   
careful not to fall into the water. Pheonix realized that this was her chance to attack Enygma, who was   
still laughing like a hyena.  
  
Sailor Pheonix ran out into the open, and decided to trust her instincts. Somehow, someway, her heart   
knew what she had to do. Just like it had always been in Somerset. She could handle this.  
  
"FLAMING BLADE STRIKE!" she shouted.  
  
A beautiful silver sword appeared in front of her. She caught a glimpse of the curved, ruby handle   
before the whole thing burst into flames.  
  
Enygma looked up at the last minute, and managed to raise the laser in defense, but the flames reached   
around it, taking hold with obviously much more effect than it had on Phoenix. She was still rather   
sizzled when the flames died down. She narrowed her scorched eyebrows at Sailor Pheonix. "Another one?!   
Inpherno!! Where'd this one come from?!" she shrieked.  
  
Inpherno was too busy with Delphi Blade's tri-blade boomerang to notice. She didn't know, anyway.  
  
"On behalf of the great flames of Pheonix, I am Sailor Pheonix, Soldier of Justice! I am here to bring   
harmony back to the world! You're toasted!" Pheonix challenged.  
  
All the while, Sailor Aquila lay on ground by the fish fountain; the pain was still visible in her   
dull eyes. Her mind drifted, just like it had been the night of the tornado. She had to hold on, she had   
to pay attention, but she didn't want to.   
  
But she wasn't alone. Where was everyone?  
  
'Cassie-- Sailor Pheonix-- Jillian-- Orion--'  
  
As if on cue, a golden eagle swooped up from behind a building, followed by another sailor-suited girl.   
The girl's outfit was the same as Pheonix and Aquila's, only pink and white.  
  
"Stop right there! I am Sailor Monoceros, Soldier of Unity! Your evil deeds cannot go unpunished! I am here   
to bring harmony back to the world!"  
  
Orion noticed Sailor Aquila and flew to her side, pulling her hair out of her face through his beak. The   
acute taste of blood startled him into a frenzy. After everything that had happened that day, Pheonix   
wasn't surprised when the eagle spoke.  
  
"Aquila! Hold on! It'll be alright!"  
  
Sailor Pheonix forgot about Enygma and rushed to Aquila's side as well, where she was joined by Sailor   
Monoceros.   
  
"Who the heck are you?" Monoceros asked, somewhat hurriedly.  
  
"^^() Ummm, Sailor Pheonix. You?" Pheonix replied, sweatdropping.  
  
"Monoceros," she said simply, turning back to Aquila.  
  
Orion turned to them, his eyes bleak. Aquila could see this distantly. She hadn't seen him this way   
before- and she found it amazingly surprising to know that he did care about her. He would take care   
of it, he would help. That calmed her down. Her eyelids sank-  
  
"Monoceros, you're the only one here who can heal her" Orion told her frantically. "You've got the right   
element. Say 'Flare Revolution', all right? And hurry!" the eagle insisted.  
  
"Gotcha, Orion!"  
  
She stood quietly, holding her arms to the sky.  
  
"Flare Revolution-" she whispered.   
  
A blinding light escaped from her hands and headed towards Aquila's side. It was only effecting her, but   
even the two Eclipzes, far across the square with Delphi Blade, could feel the cleansing energy of the   
light. The battle paused for the moment.  
  
Enygma closed her eyes. She was losing the present in the energy-- what was this? Something powerful, yet   
gentle-- something she hadn't felt in years. She wanted this energy, but could she just take it?  
  
A single thought snapped her back into place. It had to be a Melody Crystal.  
  
Aquila moaned, and sat up. The hole in her side was gone; her outfit repaired.  
  
Sailor Pheonix's eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't have a chance to question. The other two   
Scouts were back on the job.  
  
Sailor Aquila stood up, along with Sailor Monoceros. "Let's kick some Eclipze butt!" Aquila suggested   
with a renewed smile. Monoceros nodded. The two started off towards Enygma, Inpherno and Delphi Blade,   
along with Orion.   
  
Aquila stopped suddenly and turned towards Phoenix. "You coming?" she grinned.  
  
Pheonix nodded and returned the grin as she stood up. "Right!"  
  
Enygma noticed Aquila and nearly fainted. That energy had softened her a bit, but her hunter instinct   
kept her in the game. "What!? I thought I had gotten rid of you! ARGH! You just keep finding a way to   
escape! And when did YOU get here!?" she protested, motioning to Monoceros and Orion. "INPHERNO!"  
  
Inpherno barely blocked an attack from Delphi and teleported to Enygma's side. "What!?" she screamed,   
exasperated from her fight.  
  
"I can't take on three scouts and a big bird without some backup!" Enygma yelled.  
  
Inpherno glanced at the girls and Orion, who were in battle-stance, Pheonix gripping her sword   
tightly.  
  
"Don't bother. It's five to two, counting their blue friend over there," Inpherno informed as she   
disappeared, still clutching her shoulder.  
  
Enygma snorted in disgust. She was not pleased, but she regained her composure. "Listen, Sailor   
Senshi. I don't know what you want with the Melody Crystals, but anyone that gets in the way of the   
Eclipzes doesn't see the light of the next morning."  
  
"Then why are we still here?" Monoceros retorted.  
  
"Senshi have luck on their side. But no one has such luck forever. I'll be back! And when I do, you   
can kiss your lives goodbye!"  
  
She reluctantly vanished.  
  
The Scouts smiled in triumph, as Delphi Blade faded into the shadows. They made their exit just as   
the passerby caught wind of his luck-  
  
~*~*~*~*~   
  
"Wow! Another Scout! I don't believe it! So there's three of us, Orion?" Skyler asked.  
  
Skyler, Jillian, Cassie and Orion were detransformed and heading back to Cassie's house.  
  
"I can't be sure. I think so. There should be a Scout for each element, according to my resources,   
that matches those of the Melody Crystals. Skyler, you are the element of Air. Jillian, you are the   
element of Life, and Cassie, I guess you are the element of Fire. There should be two more scouts of   
Water and Earth. Then there's this Delphi Blade person. I"m not quite sure where HE fits into all of   
this" Orion explained.  
  
"Well, he seems to have powers over Water. Call me crazy, but do you think he might be the errrrrrr--   
SCOUT of Water? I mean, where in the rulebook does it say scouts have to be girls?" Jillian queried.  
  
"Who knows, Jillian-- but what was that weird word Enygma called us? Senshi? What does that mean?"  
  
They looked at Cassie.  
  
"()^^ Don't ask me! I'm the new kid, remember?" 


	10. Only in Memory

SAILOR MOON HARMONY  
EPISODE 10-ONLY IN MEMORY  
  
"Though my love is rare-- though my love is true-"  
  
Her soft singing was laced with somber spirit as it drifted over the short-grassed valley, floating along the evening breeze. The sun's delicate rays just barely skimmed the distant swaying corn stalks, playing off her hair in warm, ruby-like flashes. She swept her hand over the grass as she sang, her bare feet in a playful dance with emerging fireflies.   
  
Water glimmered distantly, drawing Skyler's wistful glare. That clever, unfeeling creek. Sure, it looked innocent enough. She knew better.   
  
Cassie had to look at it every night, but it wouldn't bother her nearly as much. She and Jillian were quite surprised to discover that she didn't actually live in the apartments, her house was actually pretty close to Skyler's. A quiet, elaborately-decorated house sitting atop one of the rolling hills just outside of Galesburg, overlooking a tranquil lake that leaked out into the creek eventually. The house, the property had been sculpted by an artist that had lived there before them. When she blocked out the creek, she did see some kind of rare yet isolated beauty.   
  
"I'm like a bird, I'll only fly away-"  
  
Orion's wingbeats ruffled her hair slightly as he landed next to her. "Don't you ever get tired of that song?"  
  
"I've never heard it before."  
  
Cassie sat down on the porch bench next to Jillian. "So what'd you want to talk about? Did you find anything about the Eclipzes?"  
  
"Yes. My contact came up with some information for us, but their in a bit of a struggle themselves. Something to do with more enemies, but it isn't related to our problems."  
  
"Who's the contact" Cassie questioned, raising an eyebrow. "How do you know they're reliable? How do you know they're not working for an enemy?"  
  
Orion hopped down to the grass, dangerously close to Skyler's feet. The grass was much more comfortable for his thin toes. "You're a little suspicious, aren't you?" he remarked.  
  
"I have my reasons to be."  
  
Orion's eagle smile appeared. "Good. A Scout should be alert. Our contact is Luna, Sailor Moon's guardian."  
  
That captured their attention immediately. "Sailor Moon?" Skyler queried, her once-somber eyes brighting instantly. "Does this Luna say anything about her? What's she like? Who is she?"  
  
"Does she know who we are?" Jillian interjected.  
  
Orion shook his head. "She doesn't know you're here. Luna does though, and I haven't got much information since she's been trying to work on her own problems. There's six Scouts now- oh, by the way, 'senshi' is a soldier."  
  
"Soldier, that's what we always say in that speech" Jillian recalled.  
  
"All those phrases-" Cassie added distantly. "I would never say something like that normally before I start a fight. But they just come out with the transformation. I mean, that fire and the sword? Not my style. Until I got that uniform. This is so weird to me-"  
  
"You think it's weird?" Skyler exclaimed. "How do you think I feel? I almost got killed twice!"  
  
Orion cleared his throat and hopped up onto the porch. "Not to frighten you" he started, calmly, as if to soften the impact of his words. "But Sailor Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus- they've already been killed once."  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
The girls' eyes, wide open, were locked on the eagle's. They were closed. "The Scouts of this system gave their lives to save this planet, in a battle that most people never saw. They never had a clue that the world was about to end. From the looks of it, neither did you."  
  
The importance and danger of their mission suddenly seeped in with a chill deeper than any arctic wind. The fate of the world could rest on a group of kids that had no idea what they were doing.   
  
Before the thoughts could settle in any deeper, Cassie's mother poked her head out the door. "Is someone here named Skyler?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"There's a telephone call for you."  
  
As Skyler went to take the call, Jillian and Cassie turned back to Orion, who had apparently been invisible to Cassie's mother. "Mercury? We've never heard of anyone but Sailor Moon" Jillian told him.  
  
"You'll learn more along the way."  
  
"If the world doesn't end" Cassie grumbled. "From what they say in the news, Sailor Moon's just a kid."  
  
Orion fluttered up the the bench. His expression had a tinge of anger. "You have to trust in Sailor Moon. If you only knew-- but I can't tell you. It could severly damage you."  
  
"So could the enemy!" Cassie shot back. "You're giving us more information, I'll admit that, but there's a lot you're hiding. Why?"  
  
Jillian appeared just as flustered, but she kept her tone reserved.. "She's right, Orion. We need to know if we're going to make it."  
  
For the first time, Orion shrunk back. His feathers slicked back in a cringe, his talons gripping the wood floor very tightly. His frightened, cornered appearance only made the two more suspicious. The tense air was interrupted as the door slammed behind Skyler.  
  
"Skyler, do you--?"  
  
Jillian trailed off as she noticed Skyler's pale cheeks, her wide, blank eyes. Her lips trembled softly, her hands gripped onto her t-shirt like a child would to a blanket. She stumbled, then resumed a slow, shaky pace towards her friends. She sat down on the bench, quietly, trying to disguise her shock with a calm air. She slipped one rollerblade on.  
  
"What's up, Sky? You gotta go home? Did something happen?"  
  
She surveyed the group, giving each of them a short, bleary stare. She swallowed hard as she pulled on the other blade and strapped it up, then stood on the edge of the driveway.  
  
"They found him."  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Shadows lingered from the streetlight below, a frozen puzzle engraved in a lonely blue-white glow. The air sifting through the windowscreen carried a cool, dewy scent and the airy music of crickets. Her sheets were inviting, tranquil, but Jillian couldn't catch the faintest strain of sleep. The quiet country air was still too settling for her, but her father insisted that she be in at nine, and there was nothing else to do but sleep. She rested her head on folded hands, staring up at the ceiling.   
  
Poor Skyler. She had always had that light of hope in her eyes, that silver, uplifting hue that had been shattered by the phone call. But she seemed like she had accepted the fact that she wouldn't see her brother alive again. She wasn't very good at hiding her feelings, Jillian guessed.   
  
Orion wasn't in much better shape. He was visibly jolted by the development, and she wondered why. He hadn't known Skyler for that long.   
  
The recollection of Skyler's first meeting with him answered the question. He had been able to save Skyler, but not her brother. That was the problem, that's probably why he was affected like this. She sighed and turned to the wall across the room.  
  
A golden picture frame glimmered from the streetlight. She could just barely make out the frozen faces of her mother and father, pressed close to a tiny version of herself. Lifeless joy. That's all these pictures were. She quickly turned to the opposite wall, pulling a sheet over her. If she only could have been the person in those pictures again. Endless contentment and all sorts of new things to discover, no responsibility, no argument-- innocence. Would she trade it all just to have these things back?  
  
Maybe. But wishing wouldn't bring anything back, and she slapped herself mentally for letting her mind slip into things like that. Still, she couldn't keep out of the memories. She remembered in lucid detail that day, waiting for her mother to come home from work. How she remembered every bit of it was beyond her, but there it was, playing through her mind as if it just happened. She lay contentedly on the living room floor, crafting a long hairband out of smaller, multi-colored loops. A hot project for all the other 8-year-olds, and she was right in it with her friends. She had just learned this weaving technique from her next-door neighbor last night. Her father, still in his tidy gray suit he wore at his own job, rested on the couch behind her, his feet up on the newly-dusted coffee table. The six o'clock news blared on about a 5-year-old circus acrobat who's act had been sabotaged. "That's terrible-" she heard her father mumble.   
  
"Mom's going to yell at you" she teased, lightly whapping his feet with a newspaper nearby.   
  
"Oh, I'll hear her when she coes home" he chuckled, switching the feet. "Unless you're going to tell on me. Are you going to tell on me?"  
  
"Depends if we got any ice cream" Jillian grinned.  
  
"No, young lady. No snacks before dinner. I'd better get started on it, looks like your mom's going to be late."  
  
Seven came and went, and soon so did eight. Her father hadn't sent her to bed yet. He usually insisted that she be in her room, lights out, at 8:00 sharp. She dropped the chilled spoon into the last remants of the melted sherbet, and with the most carefut walk she had ever put on around this time, crept up to her parents' bedroom door to listen to her father's phone conversation.  
  
"Are you sure she didn't come in to the office? That maybe you just didn't see her?" he paused for a moment, his eyes widening slightly. "No, actually- I didn't see her yesterday. Usually the first time I see her is when she gets home from work-" his pace began to quicken and his voice rose. "But she called to tell me should would be late yesterday and I didn't wait for her-"  
  
Jillian edged away from the room, slowly returning to the living room. Her father's alarmed tone resounded through her mind again and again. She didn't have to think about it to figure out that her mother was missing, but she hoped, she strained for something that might say she was just out there somewhere, just fine, everything would be OK, she just couldn't get to a phone.  
  
Just like Skyler.  
  
The rest briefly passed by her closed eyes. The doorbell after ten. The policewoman with that oddly shadowed face. Her father crumbling onto the couch as if he were trying to hide from Jillian. And she couldn't do anything except stare in horror. Daddies didn't cry, that was something she knew.  
  
They didn't cry now. They weren't even sorry.  
  
Her nails were pressed so hard against the mattress she thought they might break. She willed herself to relax, running one hand through her restless, tangled locks. No use dwelling on the past. She'd have to be there for Skyler at the memorial service tomorrow.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I'm glad I could meet you tonight."  
  
The screen's light reflected blue off Orion's metallic feathers and glassy eyes, focused on the deep red ones staring back at him. He still found it odd to be talking to a cat. Cats were something he should run from. Well, normal birds- and he wasn't a normal bird. No normal bird would be communicating through an international network from a tiny, isolated computer at the airport.  
  
"You've been catching on quickly" Luna continued. "Have you had any progress with you mission?"  
  
"No sign of the Melody Crystals" Orion replied. He was trying to keep his voice formal, but he couldn't strain out all the frustration in it. So far, he had managed to make Sailor Monoceros and Phoenix suspicious of him, and he didn't have the slightest clue of where to go next with the Crystals.  
  
"You look a little tired" Luna observed.   
  
"Maybe you should check the Polar Network" Artemis called from the background.  
  
"The Polar Network?" Orion exclaimed, his feathers bristling slightly. "It's still online?!"  
  
The cat's spacy blue eyes peered around the edge of the screen. "Yeah, but we can't connect to it from our position. We've got some of our own problems, anyway-"  
  
Orion's gaze dropped to his feet. "Is Sailor Moon handling things well?"  
  
"They all are, but the enemies are appearing more frequently."  
  
"Our Scouts are getting impatient already."  
  
Luna's silky black fur wrinkled. Orion closed one eye halfway. "What?"  
  
"Scout. I still don't understand why you call them that."  
  
The other eyelid dropped. "That's not important right now."  
  
"You're right, I apologize. Just be patient yourself, and eventually they'll follow."  
  
"I'm worried about Sailor Aquila. Sailor Monoceros and Pheonix, they may be impatient, but they know what they have to do. They know how to fight. Aquila, though--" Orion sighed. "It's like she was back then. I wish I could just tell them."  
  
"She shaped up, didn't she back then? She'll eventually get her spirit back. In the meantime, I suggest you do some research on your own enemies. You should be able to get into the Polar Network from your position."  
  
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Orion offered.  
  
"No, unfortunately we seem to be as clueless as you are. I'll try to organize things with the Senshi. I'll send the link to the Network. It should appear when this transmission ends. This is Luna, over and out."  
  
The screen flickered back to the blank desktop, leaving only that tiny crescent moon icon in the corner, and a new one, a violet, multi-pointed star. The Polar Network was something he hadn't heard in a long time- he couldn't figure out how the system would still be up if all the contact points had been destroyed.   
  
Except Earth.  
  
He touched an extended talon to the icon. It twirled to the center of the screen, then flared up with a light that was anything but electronic. He hid his eyes behind one wing, listening to the Network's foreign pulses negotiate with the computer's stubborn codes.   
  
Finally, the noise died down with the light. "Welcome, Guardian Star" a soft woman's voice greeted.  
  
He grinned his eagle grin. The Network was up, and it remembered him! He trotted over to the microphone, which had been carelessly tossed to the corner of the workspace, and dragged it back to the edge of the desk with his beak. "Change profile" he commanded.  
  
It worked quietly. "Please indicate what you wish to change."  
  
"User Name - Orion."  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
The heat poured through Skyler's short black dress, lingering in heavy layers under the seemingly thin fabric. Her feet remained motionless above the first rung of the wooden fence, directly under her gaze. They had found Oriole and she couldn't even look at him. No one could. The police said he was barely in one piece. But she couldn't even turn an eye to the tombstone. She hid from the crowd, nearly the whole town. She didn't want them to see her. Not because she didn't want them to see her cry-- she didn't want them to see her not cry. Not a single tear had escaped, not one single emotion tossed her spirit like a willow in a storm. Didn't she care? Didn't she want Oriole back? She knew the answer was yes-- but she felt as empty and heartless as the torn field off to her left. The fence had more warmth than she did.   
  
"Skyler."  
  
A hand rested on her shoulder cautiously, so she wouldn't lose her balance. Jillian and Cassie got up on the fence posts on either side of her, facing the forest. "Your mom and dad are worried about you."  
  
"About what?" Her voice was low, but chillingly still.   
  
"Umm- uh, they don't know where you are."  
  
"Oh. I thought it was something else."  
  
Jillian and Cassie exchanged concerned glances. "Anything you wanna tell us?" Cassie prodded.  
  
"We're listening. It's not good for you to bottle up things" Jillian added.  
  
"That's just it. There's nothing to bottle up. It's like-- like-" Skyler sighed. "It's like I don't even care. I know I do. It's like that me ran away. I don't want to be like this."  
  
Cassie smiled. "Hey, at least you showed up. Orion didn't even bother to get his feathered butt down here."  
  
"He said he had found something important" Jillian explained.  
  
"Shhh-" Cassie warned, pointing to the people nearby.  
  
A tiny girl stood no more than two feet away. The sunlight played magnificently off her periwinkle pigtails. It reminded Cassie of northern Lake Michigan. Her eyes were the same shade, shaped in a playful manner that matched her appearance. Maybe four or five years old. She was a little over half Skyler's size. "You care" the girl insisted, approaching Skyler.  
  
The girl's voice was kind, and spoken with an amazingly mature tone for its high pitch. Skyler dropped off the fence and kneeled by her. "What's your name?"   
  
"Gypsi Chapp. You're his sister. I saw you help him at school. You care."  
  
"At school, huh? I guess you never came to our house."  
  
"Daddy wouldn't let me. He didn't like me playing with the first-graders. He says that 9-year-old kids should stay with people their own age."  
  
The three girls' eyes shot wide open simultaneaously. "YOU'RE 9?!"  
  
Gypsi giggled. The laugh was tiny, yet heartful, and each one touched them like a cool, soothing drop of rain. "Yep. Lookie, don't be mad, but I heard you before. See, you care because if you didn't, you wouldn't be confused."  
  
Jillian beamed. "That's right, Skyler. You wouldn't be talking to us about this stuff if you didn't." she turned a sugary smile to Gypsi. "You're a pretty smart kid."  
  
"That's what Oriole said. But those guys over there, they think I'm stupid. They used to beat up Oriole. Now they come after me. But they're afraid of Skyler. Can you scare them away for me?"  
  
She indicated a group of fourth-graders, resting lazily against the fence a few yards down. "Of course he got blown away, he must've weighed, like two pounds."  
  
"Yep, all of it in his feet-"  
  
The girls saw Skyler's eyes narrow, rage darkening the silver to a stormy gray. Her cheeks touched with a brilliant red, her trembling fists tightening as she stomped over to the boys. Cassie grabbed her arm. "Skyler, wait a minute!"   
  
She jerked it away. The boys got up, lining up right in her path. Despite the fact that she was quite a bit taller than they were and looked like she was about to explode, they didn't even flinch. "What do you want?" one of them demanded.  
  
"Quit talking about my brother like that!"  
  
Her voice was very forceful, but her friends could hear her voice breaking. The boys only gave back muffled giggles. "What are you gonna do about it?"  
  
"It's a free country" another boy piped up.  
  
Skyler had no patience left. She lunged at the first boy that had spoken, tackling him to the ground. The other boys jumped in, followed by several parents who had caught wind of the scuffle. In a few minutes, the group was separated. Skyler's father stormed over. "That's enough!" he roared. "Skyler!"  
  
She was nowhere in sight. Her father glanced around once, then went back to where he was, as did the other parents. Jillian and Cassie scanned the area. "Huh? Where'd she go?"  
  
"Who cares?" the fourth-grader scoffed.  
  
Cassie's eyes gleamed like a sharply cut emerald. "Hey, kid. You wanna start something?"  
  
The kid was about to reply, but he found himself staring just a few inches from the pair threatening green eyes and one steady, ready-to-strike fist. He swallowed hard and back up, then ran off.  
"You ever bother Skyler and them again, you'd better be running!" Cassie yelled.  
  
Jillian watched Cassie as she returned. It definetely was the eyes that had scared the kid off, Jillian herself felt a little overpowered by looking at them. "C'mon, we gotta find Skyler-"  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Quiet sobbing led the little girl to where Skyler had hidden. It was quite a ways into the woods, she must have been able to run pretty fast to get to where she was.  
  
'Why were those boys so mean to her?', Gypsi wondered. 'Why are they so mean to everyone?'   
  
She didn't want to debate the mechanics of 10-year-old boys at the moment. Too confusing for her. This girl, Skyler, needed someone to talk to right now. It was so strange - she had the same aura as her brother. Something special, something that made her stand out, like Oriole. At least- Oriole had been special to her.  
  
"Please don't cry" she whimpered, as her own eyes dampened. She had been so worried about what the others felt like that she had forgotten her own feelings for the moment. "Please-"  
  
Skyler glanced up, startling the sky-haired girl. Though Skyler hadn't seen her before, Gypsi knew Skyler well enough to know that there wasn't a lot that could bring her down. This was pure, genuine sorrow, a rare moment, yet somehow, Skyler seemed relieved as well. "What--?" she asked in a strangled voice.  
  
"No. It's OK- but you know? I don't have any friends now " Gypsi quivered, wiping her eyes. "No one else will talk to me."  
  
Skyler's eyes softened. That little girl had been persistanly trying to cheer her up, so she figured it was her turn. "I'll be your friend" she offered with a weak smile. "Really. You're nice."  
  
Gypsi's ocean-tinted eyes glittered with a wild hope. But before she could respond, Jillian and Cassie came crashing through the trees, calling for her. Gypsi ran off further into the woods.  
  
"Wonder where she's going-" Skyler mumbled, just before a breathless Cassie yanked her to her feet.   
  
"Sky, I hate to say this, but we've got visitors" Jillian informed.   
  
"What?!"  
  
Her melancholy output disappeared almost instantly. "No way!"  
  
"Inpherno took one of the bullies' Harmonies. Delphi Blade showed up and fought her off, but that monsters pretty tough. C'mon, we gotta go help."  
  
"Right" Skyler rolled the Hurricane Ring and stood up. "EAGLE STAR POWER!"  
  
"UNICORN STAR POWER!"  
  
"PHOENIX STAR POWER!"  
  
As the wind, light, and fire rattled the woods, a pair of astonished blue eyes stared from the safety of a nearby tree-  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Streams of water danced and flurried across the field, leaving sparkling beads in their wake. Delphi Blade had dodged too many of them now. He had been reduced to his boomerang and his fists as his only weapons - this was a water Harmony, practically invulnerable to his own water attacks. He had tried controlling the shark-like creature's attacks, but with no effect.   
  
The boomerang returned once again, touched only by the water. How was he supposed to defeat this thing by himself? He couldn't even get close, he wasn't sure what was in that water and he didn't want to find out. At least everyone had gotten a safe distance away - he just hoped Typhune wouldn't come back for another try. He had splashed her hard enough to make her retreat, just not quick enough to stop her from disrupting the Harmony.   
  
The shark tossed something that looked like silver teeth, headed towards him in a diamond formation. He tossed the boomerang, knocking some of them offside. The rest shot past, inches away.   
  
"ACK!" he heard someone shriek behind him.   
  
Sailor Phoenix had just barely gotten out of the way of the teeth. Sailor Monoceros and Sailor Aquila came crashing out of the forest seconds later, Aquila's hand glowing with blue energy. "Razor Feather Flurry!"   
  
The feathers scattered and dropped like pins in the water sprays. Aquila stopped short, her sandal wings wide open. Monoceros came right past her, light energy splitting through the water, but none of it going directly through.   
  
Phoenix hung back. Something had held her there. She knew her fire element wouldn't work in the first place, plus the water sprays that shark was throwing would keep her far out of reach. But that wasn't it.   
  
It was Skyler. The kid looked so tiny compared to this whole mess, like the Harmony's attacks would crush her in one strike. But she was angry at these boys before, and now they had been attacking her friends and family, even if it wasn't their fault. Something was going to happen here.  
  
"Monoceros!" she barked.  
  
Monoceros stopped and glanced back. "Wha-?"  
  
Phoenix was right. As soon as Monoceros had turned, lightning bolts shot to the sky, trimmed with flourescent blue edges. It lashed out, wanting to go in every direction at once but held together by Skyler's glove. They rounded and formed into a pair of giant light wings behind her back.  
  
"JUSTICE WING!"  
  
All across town, the people jumped at the sound of exploding thunder. This only made Skyler's parents search harder. "Where's Skyler? Has anyone seen her? ANYONE?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Harmony, a shimmering blue crystal, floated from Orion's talon and back to the boy on the ground. Monoceros walked up beside him. "Good thing you showed up when you did."  
  
Orion nodded. "I saw the lightning."  
  
"Wait a minute" Monoceros said sharply. "Isn't Skyler's element Air?"  
  
The eagle shut his eyes, landing and turning away from the boy. "When in need - Scouts have ways of calling up abilities beyond their normal capabilities. Did that Delphi Blade person fight this time?"  
  
Phoenix hauled a limp, exhausted Sailor Aquila over towards them. "Delphi Blade? He's got like a Batman thing going or something - he just disappears somehow. He pretty much saved us, though. Is Aquila going to be OK?"  
  
"I'm fine-" they heard her mumbled.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
The light around her had become too dim for her to read her own writing. She closed the notebook carefully, as if it would shatter. She didn't want to drop it, she didn't usually do her homework on the roof. It wasn't like she could concentrate anyway, but she kept on it. Skyler had to go on as long as she could, that was that, and she didn't feel bad about that at all. She just felt a little empty at the moment.  
  
But at least she didn't feel as restless about it as she had before. She wasn't sure why, she wondered if she'd ever know. She watched the ledge where the creek cut through the ground, and then the sky, where stars were already starting to show. Aquila still was there, but half of it was below the horizon. A sign of more things to come, maybe-   
  
She flipped the notebook over. There were words on the back, words that she had etched in before but never really thought about it. She knew them without being able to see them. This time, she repeated them out loud.  
  
  
~When I saw you last night~  
~You were flying with your dreams~  
~But when storms came in to fight~  
~Your wings fell away in golden streams~  
  
~Could joyful stars be that fragile?~  
~In the light of your fading stare~  
~I can see a memory that will always be gold~  
~And the love that never was rare  
  
~The stars in the sky are still~  
~They'll be there as long as we can see~  
~If only we could have lived up there~  
~In that perfect world~  
~Then you'd fly back to me~ 


	11. Maiden of Honor

****

SAILOR MOON HARMONY

EPISODE 11 - MAIDEN OF HONOR

__

Plot by – Jen

Written by Whirlwynd

The cool night air wafted around her, ruffling her pleated violet skirt and short, grain-colored hair. The ocean, just as restless as her mind tonight, shimmered in the moonlight just as the edge of the blade curving above her head. 

That blue streak across the sky. Too brillant, too astoundingly beautiful to be just a star - it was crossing the sky over the waters. As it faded into the distance, she felt her own heart go with it, and instantly was overwhelmed with a feeling of emptiness. They had been so close - and he had run off yet again. Why? Was there some other destiny that awaited him?

Yes. She had heard him mention it time and time again. Eclipzes. These uninvited monsters that would inevitably tear them apart had now done so. Now was the time to cleanse the world of the invaders, so he could see clearly why she had followed him - and why he should stay with her.

"My love -- may fortune be with you. With both of us."

With that, she turned and walked from the midnight sea.

~*~*~*~*~

"This beautiful October weather continues with no end in sight, with temperatures of 80 degrees up all over the Quad Cities area. The high temperatures are still expected to go on through the week, look out for scattered showers on Wednesday and possibly thunderstorms on Thursday. Now let's turn to SkyWatch 4 for a radar outlook --"

Orion watched the meteorologist with concern. Skyler had told him that it had never been this warm in Galesburg in October, at least the years she had lived there. He suspected it could be more than just unusual nature. But the Eclipzes? They were just travelers. They didn't have weather-changing power. Someone else had to be behind this, someone much more powerful. Or maybe, just maybe, it could be a sign of a Melody Crystal. After all, this out-of-place weather wasn't happening anywhere else.

Skyler had rushed by him, her skates clattering. Turbo scampered up behind her, nearly knocking over Frostbite in his chase. The cat yowled unappreciatively. Orion, careful not to alarm either cat or dog, swooped out the door and onto the porch.

"Sky, be careful out there" he warned. "I've got a feeling something might happen today."

"You said that yesterday" Skyler reminded him. "And then you got run over by Turbo."

Orion fluffed in annoyance, then turned. "Well, it's not my fault he likes me more than you -"

"Hey."

"Make sure you have the Hurricane Ring with you, and make sure the other girls are alert as well. I'll be nearby."

"Gotcha, O - byrd."

Orion fluffed again. That was his nickname now, since Cassie had come along. It wasn't that he didn't like the name - it was just a little strange.

"Bye!"

She skated off, tripping over some gravel in her driveway before making it to the road, and then skating off towards the school. Orion fluttered to the roof and took a good look around, making sure no one could see him. 

A movement in the corn caught his eye. A figure, concealed in the heavy stalks, but was definetely there. The curious bird launched into the air for a better look.

But just as he was approaching, the visitor took off in a hurry. Orion followed, trying to get a better view. He dived low to the corn.

Suddenly the star outline appeared on his face, and he tail-stopped, flapping higher into the air. A gentle shock pulsed through him, telling him to back off. He wasn't about to take this on by himself. 

"A Harmony?" he muttered to himself. "But I would have known if one was disrupted here - it must have come from someplace else!"

He needed the Scouts' help, but if he got off the trail now he might lose the Harmony. But what was he going to do if the Harmony turned and attacked him? Sure, he had power, but he had no idea how much more his opponent would have. He had to get the Harmony Scouts.

~*~*~*~*~

"Hey, you're laaaaate!" Cassie teased Skyler, who had just made it up the stairs. "What happened?"

"Another dream" Skyler groaned, pulling her sandal into the right place. "That and Orion was giving me another warning."

"O - byrd's worried again, huh? Guess we'll have to look out for a giant Turbo!"

"I hate to say this, guys" Jillian cut in. "But I think he's right. I mean, we should do more. We need some kind of training session or something because last time we really weren't ready for the Harmony attack. If Skyler hadn't blown up like she did -"

Skyler frowned. "Please don't talk about that."

"All right, all right. But I'm serious. We need to start taking this a lot more seriously. Remember what Orion said, the world could be in our hands."

"That's scary." 

"Hey, teacher's buzz is that there's another new kid here today" Cassie told them. "From what I can gather, her name's Corrine DeBeau, and she's from France."

"Really? I always wanted to go there."

"That must be her."

Skyler was watching a sandy-haired girl walk down the hallway with a group of seventh-graders crowded around her. The girl wore a delicate lavender skirt, something light and comfortable, but decorative at the same time. Her shoes looked brand-new, kind of like sandals but they had thick, tall heels. Her hair, about waist-length and straight as a reed, was tied up in a simple ponytail. "Looks like she knows what fits around here" Cassie commented. 

"Hello!" Skyler called as they passed by.

The girl stopped and stared at her. Skyler blinked in surprise. Her eyes were a intense, crystalline blue - an extremely light shade. Almost white. 

"Cory, c'mon, we'll be late" one of the other girls insisted.

Cory continued on with out a word. 

"She didn't say anything -"

Cassie shrugged. "Whatever. I gotta get to class -"

Suddenly Orion's voice rang through their communicators. "Scouts! There is something very close to you that is emitting strange energy waves! Do you see anything out of place?"

They group looked around as unnoticably as they could. "It's moving away from you, going north."

"We don't have time to be chasing things around" Skyler whispered. "If something bad happens, we'll let you know, OK?"

The three split up, not noticing the pair of eagle eyes watching from one of the classroom windows -

~*~*~*~*~

Her pen flowed smoothly over the pastel pages of her small notebook, pouring out words onto the page in some kind of attempt to bring her insides out. She sang lightly as she wrote -

(You Don't Know Me) 

She stopped just as she heard the front door creak open, and heavy footsteps on the stone entrance. She tossed the pen aside and rushed out of her room, with open arms. She couldn't wait to tell her father all about the first day at school.

But he had already walked out of the way, right up to her mother's room.

"How is everything? All right? Anything different?"

They were talking about that baby again. Brother or sister, whatever it would be, it was already driving her crazy. She trudged back into her room, her excitement turned into a deep frown. She picked her pen up off of her bed, and sat down at the notebook again, but now she was too depressed to write. Sure he had just come home, but he didn't even bother to search her out yet and ask how her day was? Nothing like it was before they found out about their soon-to-be newest family addition.

That was supposedly why they moved to the backwards little town. To make a new start. She wasn't going to complain about them moving, no. That was exactly what she wanted. But when they found out her mother was pregnant, things changed, and now, it was worse.

She turned her chair and opened up a dresser drawer. Hidden under many layers of brand-new clothes, a golden picture frame, with a dark, blurry picture on it. She lifted it into the light, and sighed.

"Could you be the only one that could understand me? I understand you. But why do you have to run from me? Together, we could be unstoppable -"

"Cory?" she heard from the hall.

She came out in a hurry at the sound of her father's voice. But he wasn't the one he meant for her to talk to. He held the phone in his hand, looking rather cross. "It's for you. Keep it down, your mother's trying to sleep."

She stared after him, with restrained tears. But they quickly went away as she got caught up in conversation with her new friend. 

~*~*~*~*~

Galesburg was always way too quiet at night, that was Cassie's opinion. They could probably hear something coming from a mile away. But whatever was out there, they were ready to handle it now. 

The three Harmony Scouts had met out on the street at midnight, and had been wandering around with Orion for about an hour. He had been telling them about this guy that was following people around, but whenever he got close, the stalker took off. He failed to add why he thought it was their business, though.

Sailor Phoenix shuddered. The temperature had dropped significantly since the sun had gone down, and it didn't help that the Sailor uniform consisted of a mini-skirt and no sleeves or neck. But that wasn't why that chill had run down her back. Something wasn't right about this situation, something familiar to her. Her intuition in times like these was rarely off. Her emerald eyes kept alert, looking for any tiny movement.

Sailor Aquila yawned. The wings on her sandals stretched along with her arms. "It's too late" came her whispered complaint.

"There's no people here, though" Sailor Monoceros pointed out. "We should be able to find this guy more easily."

They were nearing the town square, when Sailor Phoenix held her arms out, stopping the other two with a jolt. "What?" Aquila nearly yelled.

Phoenix held one finger to her lips and motioned to a bench in the square. An elderly man wearing an old fedora and trench coat sat there, gazing into the deep, clear night. Aquila blinked, then pushed past Phoenix's block and started over there. 

"Aquila!" the other three hissed.

"What? It's just Mr. Aspen. He lives down the street."

"What's he doing out here this late?" Orion wondered.

"Oh, he's always out here." 

"Why didn't you tell us?!"

"It slipped my mind!" Aquila snapped, her cheeks tinged with pink. "Look, I know what you guys are thinking, but Mr. Aspen is really nice. See, he lost his wife last year, and ever since then he's been wandering around at night because he can't sleep. He told me so. He just feels alone, that's all. I heard he's going to be moving to the city next month." 

She continued without protest from the other Scouts. "Excuse me" she said softly.

"Who's there?" the old man demanded distantly. 

"Sailor Aquila. If you could just answer a few questions for me?"

Mr. Aspen turned and grinned, a perfect white smile. "Why, Skyler Avis, do your parents know you're out this late?"

"Huh?!" Aquila cried, backing away from the bench. The other two Scouts tensed, ready to fight.

"I - I'm not -" she stammered.

"So your the one that's been stopping all these bad vibes around here. I should have known it, such a bright young girl you are. I knew someday you'd get somewhere."

Aquila stared helplessly at Orion, who gave her a sort of mid-air shrug. She then sat down on the bench. "What are you doing out here?"

"Lookin' for the moon" he answered absent-mindedly, staring upwards again. "The fall moon gets so big sometimes."

She followed his gaze. The moon wasn't up yet, but there were plenty of stars to look at. 

"Aquila, watch out!" Monoceros hollered.

A thin green beam whooshed right by her head. She shrieked as it struck Mr. Aspen in the face, and drew a red crystal out of his mouth.

"Harmony Disrupt!" they heard a delicate voice cry. It sounded like Quayke.

Before any of the Scouts could do anything, though, Mr. Aspen had slumped down off the bench, and his Harmony transformed into a huge, bristling wolf. The fur on it's back was roaring with flames, it's red-hot claws pieced the pavement as easily as a shovel through snow. It let out a fierce, window-rattling snarl and howled. 

This was by far the most threatening-looking Harmony they had come across. Aquila, who had been cast to the ground when the Harmony was change, now lay quivering on the grass, her silver eyes widened and frozen on the giant creature in front of her. 

As if it could sense her presence, the wolf whirled and snarled right in Aquila's face. She whimpered, clutching the grass.

"Aquila! Use your attacks!" Orion ordered.

She couldn't. It was almost as if the flaming beast had hypnotized her. 

Suddenly, Monoceros yelled out as she was yanked off her feet. Orion turned his head. "It's him! It's the stalker!"

"Well thanks for telling me!" Monoceros groaned, trying to squirm her way out of the shadowy figure's grasp. 

Sailor Phoenix glanced between the two. Who was she supposed to go after first? That wolf looked like it was about to snap Aquila's head off, but she didn't know the capabilities of the stalker, who Orion obviously thought was dangerous. What was odd about the stalker was that she was looking right at him, but couldn't see anything about him except a messy shadow. She was struck, though, by something about him, something she knew she wouldn't like if she found out. 

Something struck her in the back, sending her to the ground a few yards from Aquila. Right away, she picked herself up from the ground, but was yanked back down by restraints that had wrapped around her neck, waist, wrists, and feet. Her sword clattered away from her on the street. 

A wooden shoe stepped in front of her face. She tried to look up, but her head was stuck pretty firmly to the ground. Aquila's scream split the air.

The wolf snapped again, and a loud noise. Monoceros gasped and gave a small cry. Phoenix cringed, sure that the Harmony had started in on Aquila.

But the wolf had silenced. The wooden shoes, belonging to Quayke, had backed off, and she was looking at the top of a building. In that short moment Monoceros had somehow gotten free and was pulling Phoenix's restraints, thick vines, up from the ground.

"You'd better sit, wolf, or you've howled at your last moon."

All eyes went to the rooftop, where that powerful, cold voice had come from.

"Another Scout!" Orion and Aquila exclaimed.

There was another, all right. She had long, thick light brown hair in a ponytail that fell down her shoulders in a straight crop. Her uniform was in similar shape to the other Harmony Scouts - gold tiara with a violet, star-shaper gem, white gloves with purple trim, a violet mini-skirt, tall violet boots, and teal bows. In her hand, held like a walking stick, was a glaive that arched over her head, the blade shaped like a question mark. She stood tall, with sharp, clear eyes - she was ready. This one knew the meaning of Sailor Scout, Orion thought, and she knew what her mission was.

"Who are you?" everyone else was saying.

"In the name of truth, I am Sailor Virgo!" the Scout declared, not even looking at the other Scouts.

She leapt high in the air. The glaive swiped inches away from the wolf's head. It yelped and hopped back, then galloped away.

"We can't let it get away!" Aquila yelled, just as she noticed the others were already on the trail. "Oh."

Orion rounded the corner to an empty street. His sharp golden eyes flickered around the desolate buildings, but there wasn't even the slightest movement until Aquila, Monoceros, and Phoenix dashed up behind him. "It's gone" he mumbled. "I can't sense it anymore."

"So's that other Scout -" Phoenix observed.

"No!" Aquila protested. "We can't just lose it! What about Mr. Aspen?"

"She's right" Monoceros agreed. "We can't leave the guy like that."

"This Harmony's in our hands now" someone said.

Enygma stepped out from an alleyway, grinning. Orion growled. "So let me guess. You want something for it."

"I didn't come to talk to you, bird. But you're right, I do want something."

Phoenix stepped forward. "It that old man's crystal your only excuse for me not slashing you in half right now?"

"Phoenix!" Aquila cried.

Enygma's grin somehow grew more devious. "Right. If that Harmony shatters, he dies."

"So what do you want already?!"

Monoceros gave her a disapproving look, but was too angry with Enygma to say anything. "I challenge you to a battle. Be back here tomorrow, at midnight."

"Battle against who?" Orion demanded. "For what?"

"Well, it's simple. All of us, the Eclipzes, versus all of you."

"That's not fair!"

"Fair or not, that's my offer. If you win, you get the man's Harmony back. But if we win -" her eyes narrowed, aimed at Monoceros. "-your pink friend's Melody Crystal is ours."

"WHAT?!" 

Monoceros' hands flew to her throat. "M - Melody Crystal?!"

"That's right. You don't show, you don't see the old man alive again."

She slipped back into the shadows. The other Scouts were too focused on Monoceros to notice, including a pair of light blue eyes watching from a rooftop -

~*~*~*~*~

Orion twittered all around Jillian, pecking at her like a birdseed log. She looked a little uncomfortable with it, but didn't complain. "It would make sense for the elements."

"Would that mean that me and Skyler would have a Crystal, too?" Cassie asked. "I mean, we both have elemental controls."

"Delphi Blade and Virgo" Skyler mumbled, staring at the sunset. 

"Yeah, and those two. Maybe they run away from us because they don't want their crystals stolen."

"Well, for one" Orion said, "We don't know how to remove the crystals without injuring the host. And two, I'd think Enygma would have said something about you two as well."

They had managed to hide Mr. Aspen at the McGillar place, and were now sitting on the front patio at Cassie's house.

"Who is Sailor Virgo?"

"That's priority two right now, Skyler."

"I've never had any special powers or anything" Jillian muttered. "Why would it choose me?"

Orion inched sideway, and the star outline on his forehead appeared. "They didn't choose -" he trailed off when he felt the outline, and looked sharply to the cornfields on the distant hills. "He's here."

"Who?" Cassie said, jumping up.

"The stalker. He's not heading this way, he's going north. Come on, let's go."

"But he'll be gone by the time we get across the creek."

Jillian's eyes scanned the corn-spiked horizon. "Yeah -" she said distantly. 

Her painted nails scraped tiny splinters out of the bench. She could feel a lump growing in her throat, whether it was the Melody Crystal or her own nervousness, she didn't know. The reality of the danger she was in had finally smacked her right in the face and pretty much knocked her off her feet. "Orion -" she said weakly. "That's enough - I don't want to -"

Abruptly, she leapt to her feet and ran off down the gravelly drive. Skyler also jumped up, but Cassie held her arm out. "I don't think she wants to see us right now."

"What? Why? We're her friends, aren't we? Is she mad at us?"

"No" Cassie's eyes remained on Jillian with an analytical steadiness. "She just doesn't want to see Sailor Scouts."

Skyler stared after her, still visibly confused. Cassie picked up a stick by the side of the bench. She spun it around, and held it in a defensive position. "You'd better get home and rest. We've got a big night."

Jillian ran up the apartment stairs, her eyes swimming in stubborn tears. Her father sat in the living room, his crossed legs propped up on the coffee table and his face in the paper. "Hey, Jill" he greeted distractedly. "How's -"

'Oh no', she thought, quickly hiding her face. But it seemed her father had already caught on. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing" she said, knowing all too well her voice was too broken to pass as OK. 

"Come here. Talk to me."

She ignored him, slamming the door. She flopped down on her bed, hoping with all her mind that he wouldn't follow.

"There's been nothing but trouble ever since I came here" she whispered. "But what can I do? What should I do? Can a Scout not be a Scout anymore?"

~*~*~*~*~

Their crowded footsteps sifted into the night. None of them spoke, not even Skyler. They weren't sure what to expect, and not willing to guess. The waning moon was just peering over the tops of the trees. 

Jillian walked right in the middle of the group, her eyes more alert than they had ever been before. She had focused her frightened mind into a high state of wariness. Still, the others could see the fear in her face. She kept her hand clasped over her transformation locket. 

The square was dimly-lit, silent. The trees stood as still guards to the area, the Pisces fountain as motionless as a photograph. 

"You'd better transform before we get out in the open" Orion advised.

Skyler opened her mouth to start, but before she could speak, Cassie stopped her with a wave of her hand. "Someone else is in the square."

"Who? Not the creepy stalker guy is it?"

Cassie crept up to the bushes by the fountain. There was someone, as she had said, sitting on the edge of it, staring up at the sky. She could just barely make out a face in the moonlight. 

"I think that's - that Cory girl!"

The rest of them got closer. "Yeah" Skyler confirmed.

"She can't be here, the Eclipzes are going to show up any minute!" Orion whispered. "Quick, try to get her out of sight -"

Cory's eyes glimmered an unearthly ice blue as she saw them approaching. "What are you doing here?"

"We were just about to ask you" Jillian said. "It's midnight, don't your parents care if you're out here?"

"Don't yours?" she retorted.

"It's not safe to be out here now."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"You have no idea."

Cassie snorted. "Excuse me? I have no idea? Do you have any idea what it's like to live a day in northside Somerset?"

"That doesn't mean a thing."

Skyler's eyes suddenly widened. "Wait a minute. Are you - "

The ground nearby suddenly burst into a fountain of violet light and charred grass. Skyler screamed and dived right into the fountain.

More lasers rained down. "Showing up unprepared, are we?" they heard Enygma claim. 

"Great -"

"There's no time!" Orion yelled. "Forget the identity, just transform!"

Skyler peered over the edge of the fountain, then slipped out and into the shadows. "EAGLE STAR POWER!"

"UNICORN STAR POWER!"

"PHOENIX STAR POWER!"

The square was a bright as a blue, pink, and red day as the energizing power flared through the trees. The three Scouts set down. Aquila's hair had dried during the transformation.

"Now you see?" Sailor Monoceros yelled. "Go!"

Cory smirked and closed her eyes with a mischievous chuckle. She stood up slowly from the fountain. "I knew there was something about you three. It was easy to tell."

Raising her hand in the air, she cried, "VIRGO STAR POWER!"

The three Harmony Scouts watched in amazement as twirling green and violet light erupted from the ground around Cory's feet. Orion closed his eyes to feel the energy - grounded, harmonious, emotional - it was definetly the element earth. "She's one of us -"

The violet-uniformed soldier paid no attention to the started Scouts. "So now you know who I am. There, you happy?"

"Please -" Rayne scoffed as she appeared by the fountain. "We already know who you all are. Not that hard to figure it out."

Aquila sprawled across the ground as Typhune landed right on her head. The rest also descended from the trees around. Enygma landed ready, with her laser charged. Inpherno barely had to jump to reach the ground. Quayke took a few timid, clumsy steps on the branch before falling out of the tree.

For the next few minutes, the square was in complete chaos, a mess of fire and feathers, lasers and light. Aquila was flipping out, lost in the melee. Phoenix found herself preoccupied with both Rayne and Inpherno, just barely escaping their elemental attacks. Monoceros and Typhune cycled around each other. 

Sailor Virgo stood opposite of Quayke, who seemed to be more interested in finding a place to hide rather than fighting. "Where are you going?" 

She swiped the scythe across the grass. Quayke eyes it from her place behind the tree.

"Looks like this fight is pretty even after all."

Virgo motioned to raise the scythe, but found the handle firmly strapped to the ground with thick vines. 

Vines the width of garbage cans tore through the square every which way. The fighters hit the ground, including Virgo. After they had whizzed by, she pushed herself back up - but became aware of pressure on her back. She froze as she felt the heat through her uniform, and heard the low growling right behind her ears.

Aquila had crumbled to her knees at the sight of the menacing Harmony, leaving her wide open for Enygma. She rushed over to the stunned Scout, slipped her arm around her neck and yanked her to her feet, the laser pressed to the side of her head. "Let's see you lightning protect you from this -"

Aquila screamed at the top of her lungs. At the same time, so did the Harmony, drawing all eyes.

A blue, tri-blade boomerang stuck in the ground, followed by a wave of water. The wolf's shrieking was reduced to a squeal, and finally a hiss as the fire vanished into the air. The Harmony crystal dropped to the grass.

Delphi Blade approached from the opposite side of the square. "Thought I'd even up the odds!" he called to the Harmony Scouts.

"OW! Quit it!"

Orion had taken Enygma's momentary distraction to free Aquila by clinging to Enygma's hair with his talons. Aquila slipped out of her grasp and backed up a few feet. The only thing she could think to do was whip the Hurricane Ring at Enygma's head.

It smacked into her, knocking her flat on her back and bouncing right back to Aquila. Delphi dashed through the square, shooting off water beams alongside Sailor Phoenix.

Suddenly a violet light exploded from where the Harmony lay. A blade shimmered in the light.

"VIRGIN SCYTHE SLASH!"

Another moment of chaos, and the sound of a blade cutting through the air.

"That's it! I'm going!" Inpherno yelled. "I got other work to do -"

She vanished into flame. Enygma slowly struggled to her feet, pausing to take a look at the situation. She looked rather disoriented, a large gash across her forehead. Typhune picked her up. "No!" she snapped, jerking away. "We can't give up this time!"

"I think you can."

The Scouts and Delphi stood right in front of the two remaining Eclipzed. Enygma gave them the meanest scowl she could muster, then vanished with Typhune in a beam.

Aquila ran right over to the Harmony. "I'll be back, I'm going to give this to Mr. Aspen!" 

Sailor Monoceros and Phoenix watched her, then looked back at Virgo, who was standing in front of Delphi Blade. "So you ARE here" she sighed.

Delphi didn't say a word. His expression was flat, almost sad.

"You helped me. You just gave me the strength to scare them off."

Sailor Virgo reached out to him, but he leapt off into the night. "Wait!"

"Yeah, wait!" Sailor Phoenix yelled. "Augh -"

Virgo eyed the two other Scouts. Monoceros addressed her. "So you're a Scout, too, then?"

Just like Delphi, she gave them an ice-blue look, and bolted away.


End file.
